Process Safety Incident Classification

This chapter begins with an incident of petrobras P-36 Sinking, Brazil, 2001. Explosions occurred on the platform P-36 started on March 15, 2001 resulting in fatalities of eleven Petrobras employees. Industry recognized the value of the occupational safety performance metrics and saw the need to improve process safety performance by creating process safety-specific metrics. The chapter explains the difference between and use of leading and lagging indicators, discusses the relationship between process safety incident classification levels, and classifies a process safety incident. A combination of leading and lagging metrics is often the best way to provide a complete picture of process safety performance and effectiveness. New engineers are frequently involved in the collation of performance metrics. Leading and lagging indicator data are tracked and the data analyzed to identify trends and make suggestions for improvement. The documents discussed in this chapter are the best tools in understanding, selecting, and enabling consistency in process safety metrics.