Assessment and Enhancement of Human Safety Practices; A STUDY OF IMPACTS AND SOLUTIONS IN PROMOTING PROCESS SAFETY IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY.

Abstract

[5:55 pm, 27/11/2024] Abdullah: Industrialization has greatly benefited humanity, but it also presents significant challenges, particularly in ensuring asset safety and maintaining a skilled workforce in process industries. While techniques like HAZOP and HAZID proactively identify potential hazards, others, such as STEP Analysis and Root Cause Analysis, assess hazards post-incident. Though process and machine-related risks are often mitigated through safety checks, human factors pose a critical challenge, requiring a specialized approach. Unlike machines, which perform tasks consistently, human actions can vary, leading to potential missteps and accidents. Human factors contribute to approximately 80% of accidents in process plants, with 17% occurring during equipment handover for maintenance, 76% during maintenance, and 7% during start up post-maintenance. To address these risks, this research utilizes STEP Analysis, Bowtie Diagram, and Human Reliability Assessment (HRA) to study the contribution of human factors in past industrial incidents. The study focuses on three major disasters: the Piper Alpha disaster (1988), the Deepwater Horizon disaster (2010), and the BP Texas City Refinery disaster (2005), which significantly influenced safety practices in the oil and gas industry and beyond. The application of STEP Analysis and Bowtie tools revealed that human factors were primary drivers in these incidents. Further analysis using the HEART method of HRA showed a 100% probability of disaster occurrence under the conditions present at the time. This research concludes that the systematic application of HRA, alongside traditional Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) studies, is crucial for enhancing safety across the oil and gas sector and the broader chemical industry.