Developing system-based leading indicators for proactive risk management in the chemical processing industry

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2012.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Khawaji, Ibrahim A. (Ibrahim Abdullah)
Other Authors: Nancy G. Leveson.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/78486
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author Khawaji, Ibrahim A. (Ibrahim Abdullah)
author2 Nancy G. Leveson.
author_facet Nancy G. Leveson.
Khawaji, Ibrahim A. (Ibrahim Abdullah)
author_sort Khawaji, Ibrahim A. (Ibrahim Abdullah)
collection MIT
description Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2012.
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spelling mit-1721.1/784862019-04-11T02:00:28Z Developing system-based leading indicators for proactive risk management in the chemical processing industry Khawaji, Ibrahim A. (Ibrahim Abdullah) Nancy G. Leveson. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division. Engineering Systems Division. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2012. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (p. 78-80). The chemical processing industry has faced challenges with achieving improvements in safety performance, and accidents continue to occur. When accidents occur, they usually have a confluence of multiple factors, suggesting that there are underlying complex systemic problems. Moreover, accident investigations often reveal that accidents were preventable and that many of the problems were known prior to those accidents, suggesting that there may have been early warning signs. System-based analysis addresses systemic aspects and leading indicators enable the detection of ineffective controls and degradation of the system. Together, they could enable taking needed actions before an incident or a loss event. To develop process safety indicators, the chemical processing industry currently uses guidelines that are mainly based on the concepts of the "Swiss Cheese Model" and the "Accident Pyramid." The current guidelines lack a systemic approach for developing process safety indicators; the guidelines view indicators as independent measures of the safety of a system (e.g. a failure of a barrier), which can be misleading because it would not identify ineffective controls, such as those associated with the migration of the system towards an unsafe state, or associated with interdependencies between barriers. Moreover, process safety indicators that are currently used in the chemical industry are more focused on lagging as opposed to leading indicators. This main objective of this thesis is to develop a structured system-based method that can assist a hydrocarbon/chemical processing organization in developing system-based process safety leading indicators. Building on developed safety control structures and the associated safety constraints, the proposed method can be used to develop both technical and organizational leading indicators based on the controls, feedbacks, and process models, which, ultimately, can ensure that there is an effective control structure. by Ibrahim A. Khawaji. S.M. 2013-04-12T19:28:50Z 2013-04-12T19:28:50Z 2012 2012 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/78486 836717442 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 80 p. application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Engineering Systems Division.
Khawaji, Ibrahim A. (Ibrahim Abdullah)
Developing system-based leading indicators for proactive risk management in the chemical processing industry
title Developing system-based leading indicators for proactive risk management in the chemical processing industry
title_full Developing system-based leading indicators for proactive risk management in the chemical processing industry
title_fullStr Developing system-based leading indicators for proactive risk management in the chemical processing industry
title_full_unstemmed Developing system-based leading indicators for proactive risk management in the chemical processing industry
title_short Developing system-based leading indicators for proactive risk management in the chemical processing industry
title_sort developing system based leading indicators for proactive risk management in the chemical processing industry
topic Engineering Systems Division.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/78486
work_keys_str_mv AT khawajiibrahimaibrahimabdullah developingsystembasedleadingindicatorsforproactiveriskmanagementinthechemicalprocessingindustry