Process Safety Analysis in Mining

Abstract

Many people associate process safety events such as loss of containment, fire, or explosions with the chemical and refining industries. However, these catastrophic incidents have also occurred in the mining and mineral processing industries in recent decades. Learning from incident investigations, public inquests, and operational feedback is a vital safety element that provides background for regulators and policymakers and offers opportunities to ensure similar shortcomings do not arise in major hazardous sectors. However, no focus on process safety incidents relevant to the minerals processing industries could be found when searching such databases. Through a comprehensive literature review, this research addresses this gap by exploring whether such databases can be built and populated with publicly available information. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) method was used to systematically identify, evaluate, and analyze existing literature data. Thirty-three global incidents relevant to mineral processing were obtained, and their root causes were analyzed against established frameworks for process safety management systems and risk prevention approaches. Regions and locations of the incidents were also captured. Human, economic, and environmental impacts were recorded where available. 34% of the accidents' primary causes were equipment failures, leading to a loss of mechanical integrity; 12% were attributed to design failures related to structural integrity; 33% were unknown or unreported causes; and the rest were a combination of human error and failures of administrative systems. Incidents found through web searches lack essential details, while those found in organizations' press releases and governmental agencies are more detailed. The conclusion suggests adapting PSM in the mineral processing industries.