Accident and Loss

Statistics
Chemical Process Safety
ChE 258

Overview

Accidents
Models
Engineering Ethics
Loss Statistics
Perceptions
Example

Definition

Accident

is an undesired event that resulted in

unwanted deterioration of
health of a living organism
value of an organization
quality of the environment

Safety, Hazard, and Risk

Safety or loss prevention is the

prevention of accidents by the use
of appropriate technologies to
identify the hazards of a chemical
plant and to eliminate them before
an accident occurs.

Safety, Hazard, and Risk

A hazard is anything with potential

for producing an accident

Risk is the probability of a hazard

resulting in an accident.

Types of Personnel
Accidents

Struck by
Contact by
Caught in
Caught between
Foot-level Fall
Exposure

Struck against
Contact with
Caught out
Overexertion
Fall to below

Accident Causation Theory

Acts of God
Pilot Error beginning of
industrial revolution
Mismanagement current legal
leanings

Heinrich Domino Theory

Predictable chronological sequence of
causal factors lead to accidents
Fault of person
Unsafe practices
Unsafe conditions
Accident, and
Loss

Developed by H.W. Heinrich in 1920s

Marcums 7 Domino
Sequence of
Supposes that all accidents can be avoided and
Misactsidents
that the liability resides with management

Inadequate preparation
Substandard performance
Miscompensated risks
Harmful contact incident
Adverse reaction
Sustained losses, and
Incurred costs

System-Induced Error
An accident occurs if a triggering event
occurs at a time when the innate error
tendencies of humans as determined
by performance influencing factor
lead to an error in an unforgiving
environment
Developed during the 1980s

System-Induced Error

Innate error tendencies of humans

Fallible memory
Reliance on rules
Information processing limitations

System-Induced Error

Performance influencing factors

Physiological and Psychological state

Low motivation
Overloaded

Inadequate training

System-Induced Errors

Unforgiving Environment

Absence of barriers (physical) to

making errors
No support for recovery

System-Induced Error
An accident occurs if a triggering event
occurs at a time when the innate
error tendencies of humans as
determined by performance
influencing factor lead to an error in
an unforgiving environment

Chemical Engineering
Ethics
American Institute of Chemical Engineers

Fundamental Principles
Engineers shall uphold and advance the
integrity, honor and dignity of the engineering
profession by
1 using their knowledge and skill for the
enhancement of human welfare;
2 being honest and impartial and serving with
fidelity the public, their employers, and clients;
3 striving to increase the competence and
prestige of the engineering profession

Chemical Engineering
Ethics
American Institute of Chemical Engineers

2
3
4

Fundamental Canons
Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health,
and welfare of the public in performance of their
professional duties.
Engineers shall perform services only in areas of
their competence.
Engineers shall issue public statements only in an
objective and truthful manner.
Engineers shall act in professional matters for each
employer or client as faithful agents or trustees,
and shall avoid conflicts of interest.

Chemical Engineering
Ethics
American Institute of Chemical Engineers
Fundamental Canons
5 Engineers shall build their professional reputations
on the merits of their services.
6 Engineers shall act in such a manner as to uphold
and enhance the honor, integrity, and dignity of
the engineering profession.
7 Engineers shall continue their professional
development throughout their careers and shall
provide opportunities for the professional
development of those engineers under their
supervision.

OSHA

Occupational Safety and Health

Administration

Established by Congress in 1970 in the

Occupational Safety and Health Act of
1970 OHSAct

OSHA has defined terms related to work

related losses

OSHA Definitions

Occupational Injury is any injury

such as a cut, fracture, sprain,
amputation, etc. which results
from an exposure involving a
single incident in the work
environment.

From Table 1.2 in text

OSHA Definitions

Occupational Illness of an employee is

any abnormal condition or disorder,
other than one resulting from an
occupational injury caused by
exposure to environmental factors
associated with employment. It
includes acute and chronic illnesses or
diseases which may be caused by
inhalation, absorption, ingestion, or
direct contact.

OSHA Definitions

Lost Workdays are those days

which the employee would have
worked but could not because of
occupational injury or illness. Also
need to account for diminished
long term performance.

OSHA Definitions

Recordable Cases are those

involving an occupational injury or
occupational illness, including
deaths. Not recordable are first aid
cases which involve onetime
treatment and subsequent
observation of minor scratches,
cuts, burns, splinters, etc., which do
not ordinarily require medical care.

OSHA Definitions

Nonfatal cases without lost workdays are

cases of occupational injury or illness
which did not involve fatalities or lost
workdays but did result in (1) transfer to
another job or termination of employment,
or (2) medical treatment other than first
aid, or (3) diagnosis of occupational
illness, or (4) loss of consciousness, or (5)
restriction of work or motion.

OSHA Definitions

There are tables of

lost work days
that are assigned to
losses of various
members of the
body

Fatality is equivalent
to 24 worker years

OSHA Definitions

These lost work

days are not only
based on how
long it will take to
recover but also
on the individuals
diminished ability
to carry out the
job function

Injury and Loss Statistics

There are several different

statistics that have been defined
and collected by government and
industrial agencies

OSHA Injury & Illness Rate

OSHA Injury&Illness Rate =
(# of Injuries&Illness*200,000)/(Total hrs all
employees)

Based on 100 worker-years

40hrs 50wk
WorkYear
2000 hr

yr
wk yr

OSHA Lost Workdays Incidence

Rate

Same bases, but use lost workdays

Lost Workdays Incidence Rate =

(# lost workdays * 200,000)/(Total hrs
worked)

Other Loss Statistics

FAR is the Fatal Accident Rate
FAR=(# of Fatalitiesx108)/(Total hrs all employees)
Based on 1000 workers career

50 yr
40hr 50wk

5 hr
WCareer

10

career
wk yr career

Table 1.3 & 1.4 lists several FARs

Other Loss Statistics

Fatality Rate

# Fatalities / yr
FatalityRate

Total
#
PeopleExposed

Causes of Accidental Death in

US

Major causes of death in

US

Accident Pyramid

Typically there are

numerous
property losses
and minor injuries
for every fatality
An accident is
usually visible the
day before it
happens

Risk

Risk is the product of the probability of

the occurrence of an accident and the
severity of the accident
The Chemical Processing Industry has the
possibility for severe accidents due to
operating conditions and materials
Engineers try to reduce the probability of
occurrence to reduce the risk
In the real world we have to accept some
risks

Public Perceptions

Public Opinion Poll Would

you say chemicals do
more good than harm,
more harm than good, or
about the same amount of
each
The Chemical
Manufacturers Association
(CMA) recently (2000)
changed its name to
American Chemists
Council (ACC) to avoid the
word chemical

Risk to Human Life Survey

You will rank

which causes the
greatest number
of deaths each
year
Each question is
the same, only
decreasing rank

Causes of death

Handguns
Smoking
Motor Vehicles
Private Aviation
Commercial Aviation
Alcoholic Beverages
Nuclear Power
Food Preservatives
Pesticides
Skiing

Risk to Human Life Survey

Start Internet Explorer

http://classes.che.umr.edu
LIBRIX Front Page
Give username and password
If first time, username is AFS Email
name and password is Student number
Risk to Human Life survey

LIBRIX

Go to My Profile
Change password to your choice so
that you can remember
Will use LIBRIX some more during
the semester.

In Class Assignment
The FAR for travel by car is reported as 57 while
that for travel by air is 240
1)

2)

If the average speed of travel is 50 mph by

car and 250 mph by air, determine the
deaths per million miles travel by car or air.
If you are required to make a round trip from
St. Louis to Los Angeles, which is the safer
mode of transportation as indicated by the
statistics?

Solution
1) Calculations

Car

57deaths
1hr
106
deaths

0.0114

MillionMiles
108 hr 50miles

MillionMiles

1hr
106
240deaths
deaths
Air

0.0096
8
MillionMiles
10 hr 250miles

MillionMiles

2) For a fixed distance, air travel is the safest

mode