Wake up call for processing industry: Safety awareness is the name of the game

Those involved in safety issues are in no doubt: safety awareness never stops. Seemingly, all roads lead to Rome. Trust and consultation with the processing industry, local and national authorities are called for to keep safety continuously in focus. At least stakeholders are talking to each other, after incoming chairman Steven Lak of the Rotterdam-based entrepreneurs organisation Deltalinqs called for clarity in enforcement of legislation on safety.

General manager Chris Pietersen of Safety Solutions Consultants, a company whose business is advising the process industry on life cycle safety of their installations and operations, warns for hasty response on incidents in de processing industry. He says: ”The odd lecturers, politicians and media comment on incidents instil fear for hazardous materials. It has nothing to do with safety and risk management. The parties involved attempt to bridge the gap in knowledge by capturing safety in checklists and other simplified systems. In doing so businesses and authorities keep each other busy.”

Pietersen advocates mandatory safety management, effective leadership, specific knowledge and experience of safety measures, and the establishment of an independent organisation for monitoring and risk assessment in the Netherlands, such as that of the Health & Safety Executive board in the UK. ‘‘The RIVM (the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, ed.) would ideally be the organisation to take up that job, but it is clearly related to the national government and as such independence is questionable. Safety should be in focus at all times, rather than taking measures ad hoc.”

After talking to this magazine Pietersen addressed delegates at a conference about the issue, stating that in the best of British tradition much is based on risk assessment. In the Netherlands the emphasis is on securing quality in quality and risk management systems, which is common practice in hazardous industries. The safety expert proposes Safety Integrity Level (SIL) standards NEN-IEC 61508/61511 as being the best applicable risk management standards. To Pietersen’s mind the businesses involved must keep up these standards. ”It paves the way to optimum safety”, he observes. He added that the state of affairs of process safety can only be assessed when quality of securing in safety management system has been established. Pietersen is aware of the fact that the industry at large is busy defining key performance indicators. ”However, business and authorities should give this more priority than they do today.”

Talking

At least industries and local and national authorities are talking to each other. The Inspectorate Social Affairs and Employment and the environmental protection agency DCMR announced they are having ‘constructive talks with representatives of trade and industry’.

Their statements were issued after Deltalinqs chairman Steven Lak called for more transparency in inspections, arguing that on occasions inspectorates are likely to approve installations one year, and disapprove the same installation the next.

Lak underlines the proven safety performance of the Rotterdam-based port, oil and chemical industries, but admits that the processing industry has received some wakeup calls. That happened when Odfjell Terminals Rotterdam and Chemie-Pack were severely criticised about poor safety conditions at their sites. After a number of incidents Odfjell Terminals Rotterdam took action quickly, as did chemical company Abengoa earlier when it stopped its production processes to lift safety standards up to the required standards again.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority added that the immediate response was proof that the businesses involved took their responsibility seriously and that safety awareness in the industry area has improved. ”It is all about continuous improvement and exchange of knowledge. Regulatory organisations, such as the regional environmental protection agencyDCMR have decided to alter their mode of operations for the benefit of more effective monitoring and inspecting.”

It is clear that the Port of Rotterdam Authority and the authorities of other Dutch seaports aim at safeguarding safety and security within their ports. In its Port Compass 2030 the Port of Rotterdam Authority laid down its target to have the port even cleaner, noiseless and safe in 2030 than it is today. It is necessary to collaborate with all stakeholders in the port community to make this happen. The current state of affairs is that quite a large volume of hazardous goods are stored, carried and transhipped throughout the port, without any serious incidents.

Janny Kok