Risk assessment of commonly transported chemicals in the Port of Houston

Abstract

Handling a wide variety of chemicals in ports increases public safety and environmental concerns. This requires successful risk management to prevent harm to the public and the environment from chemical-related incidents. Minimising risk in port environments is imperative for authorities to ensure continuous and safe port operations. In this study, commonly transported chemicals have been identified in the Port of Houston, and each chemical has been assessed to establish an overall risk score based on its public safety and environmental health effects in case of exposure. Subsequently, a risk score has been determined using toxicity, behaviour and transportation amounts of chemicals, and congestion and visibility in the port at the time of an incident. A practical risk assessment framework has been presented to evaluate and prioritise chemicals based on their risk scores to assist government authorities, first responders, port workers, and emergency planners in their decision-making processes.