The Chemical Safety Board (CSB) conducts investigations into serious incidents that occur in the chemical and process industries. The following quotation is taken from the web site of the United States Chemical Safety Board.The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the agency's board members are…
The following is a short summary of the full post, The Future Has No Narrative.In 2015 the author Wendell Berry said,So far as I am concerned, the future has no narrative. The future does not exist until it has become the past. To a very limited extent, prediction has worked. The sun, so far, has set and risen as we have expected it to do. And the world, I suppose, will predictably end, but all…
Published: June 2021Updated: August 2021 The OrganizationThere are many opinions to do with climate change — its causes, its effects, how quickly it is happening, and whether it is even happening at all. Therefore, the United Nations created the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in the year 1988 in order to provide world leaders with authoritative guidance. At its web…
This blog is based on the post The IPCC and Its Reports.The IPCCDiscussions to do with climate change frequently quote reports from the IPCC — the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The IPCC is a United Nations body that was formed in the year 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization WMO and United Nations Environment Programme. Its role is to provide policymakers with regular…
When discussing Net Zero programs a question that people in the energy and process industries frequently ask is, “How will it affect my career? What do I need to do to stay employed?” Professionals in those industries are rightly concerned that their skills and experience will be uncalled for in a rapidly changing world, particularly in a world where oil companies have stated…
Dateline: June 2020Update: August 2021The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everything. When more than 22 million people in the United States alone lose their jobs in just a few weeks we have entered a new and different world. There is no going back to an ‘Old Normal’. In the first post in this series, The New PSM Normal (1) — Deflation, I suggest that we are entering a time of deflation, which is…
This post is the third in a series in which we consider how our approach to industrial safety, and process safety in particular, may change in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is early days — no one knows what the ultimate health and economic effects of this frightening event will be. But it seems likely that we are entering a ‘New Normal’. So much has happened so quickly that it is hard to…
If you fly over the offshore platform of the future in a helicopter and look down you will see just two living beings: an operator and a dog. The operator’s job is to feed the dog; the dog’s job is to make sure that the operator doesn’t touch anything.This is the fourth post in our series to do with the ‘New Normal’ as it applies to industrial safety. The series is written on the assumption that…
2020-05-20In this post I would like to consider how those of us who work in industrial and process safety can help the community at large? The subject came to mind when I was discussing the eventual return of people to church services with a colleague. Our Episcopal diocese has organized a four-phase program for the re-opening of the churches (we are currently in Phase One).Phases Two and Three…
2020-05-27I would like to take a break from talking about this virus this week. (Wouldn’t we all?) Instead, let’s take another long-range look as to where the process industries may be going, and how safety management programs may have to adapt.There is much talk in the oil industry to do with the current low oil prices and how the loss of revenue will lead to a cutback in investment, something…
2020-06-03In the post SEMS and Risk in 2020 (SEMS if the offshore equivalent of process safety management as applied to U.S. deepwater operations — mostly the Gulf of Mexico), Mick Will, says,The speed with which drastic change has come over our industry is what is so different from past events. While oil price volatility has been something I have dealt with for 42 years, I do not remember change…
This page provides a list of our posts on the theme of ‘The Process Safety Professional’.Constant ReadingAttributesThat Would Be TellingOnce Upon a TimeAdmiral Rickover's Seven RulesProcess Safety AssessmentsThe Importance of CalculationsMulti-Lingual HAZOPsThat Sinking FeelingProcess Safety Wisdom
Ian Sutton
This video and accompanying transcript shows how process safety professionals can make a contribution toward addressing the climate crisis.The presentation uses four analogies:A sense or crisis and that “something must be done”.The importance of regulations.Consistency of reporting.The use of management elements.Copyright © Ian Sutton. 2023. All Rights Reserved.
Renewable Energy. M.C. Escher's Waterfall (1961)The ParadoxRenewables are growing faster than other sources of energy.The fraction of energy provided by renewals is declining.The Net Zero CommitmentAt the heart of most ‘Net Zero’ programs lies a commitment to transferring our primary energy sources from finite fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) to renewables, which, in practice, means solar…
As good as it getsThis is the first article in a series to do the future of energy in a Net Zero world. In this article we look at fossil fuels, why they are so valuable, and the properties they have that will make them so difficult to replace.Many of the discussions in this series are based on the following sketch. We will review and analyze sections of this sketch in future…