Process Safety Knowledge Management in the Chemical Process Industry

Abstract

Chemical process industry is a high risk industry which can result in catastrophic casualties, loss of properties, and environment damage. Process safety should always come first in the chemical process industry. Researchers have made great efforts to make the chemical process industry safer for people and the environment. Effective process safety management is the guarantee for process safety. Key elements of process safety management and risk based process safety are presented and discussed. Sometimes process safety knowledge is not utilized effectively in implementing process safety management. Knowledge and knowledge management are introduced. Various process safety knowledge sources are analyzed. A knowledge management framework is proposed to utilize process safety knowledge. With the proposed knowledge management framework, process safety knowledge can be used to prevent chemical accidents, mitigate the consequences, and reduce risk in the chemical process industry.