Rethinking Bhopal: A Definitive Guide to Investigating, Preventing, and Learning from Industrial Disasters

Rethinking Bhopal: A Definitive Guide to Investigating, Preventing, and Learning from Industrial Disasters is the go-to source for anyone seeking to learn how to improve process safety management (PSM) through applying fundamental asset reliability and incident investigation concepts.

The seeds that unified PSM on a global scale were planted in Bhopal, India on December 3, 1984. Since then, considerable progress has been made to protect both workers and communities from catastrophic industrial failures. Industry acknowledges its responsibility to create value with accrued operating experience and that using information received from previous failures is a direct way to prevent future incidents. With this principle in mind, Bloch evaluates modern references related to the Bhopal Disaster, using recognized industrial asset reliability and incident investigation concepts.

The practice of objective incident investigation offers a compelling insight into specific decisions and actions that resulted in history’s worst industrial disaster. Recording a fully transparent sequence of events promotes a personal sense of accountability for anyone involved in the manufacturing industry. Lessons learned can be immediately implemented by those with direct PSM, management, engineering, and operating responsibilities. Case histories demonstrate how patterns observed in the timeline leading up to the Bhopal Disaster can be detected in modern incidents and by recognizing these patterns in present-day processes avoids counterproductive operating decisions and unprecedented destruction.

This text is instrumental in helping existing organizations re-evaluate their own exposures and risks, and would be a valuable read for any member of a process safety management team. Rethinking Bhopal: A Definitive Guide to Investigating, Preventing, and Learning from Industrial Disasters provides an expansion of knowledge and understanding for the novice in PSM while also providing depth and application considerations to challenge more experienced industry professionals. Note: All royalties from this book go to the Process Safety Heritage Trust Scholarship at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, USA.

Learn how to improve Process Safety Management (PSM) performance by applying fundamental asset reliability and incident investigation conceptsUnderstand your personal role in detecting and preventing Loss of Primary Containment (LOPC) incidents before they occurTake immediate action to stabilize processes under your control while promoting a systematic approach to eliminating persistent failure mechanismsIncludes case histories to helpfully illustrate how to detect potentially destructive patterns in your own organization

Foreword

Introduction

Part 1: Process Reliability

Chapter 1: Industrial Learning Processes

Chapter 2: Equipment Reliability Principles

Chapter 3: Investigation Framework

Chapter 4: Role Statement

Chapter 5: Case Study - Complexity Causes Problems

Part 2: Project Management

Chapter 6: Product Development

Chapter 7: Establishing a Business

Chapter 8: Process Selection

Chapter 9: Local Manufacturing Aspirations

Chapter 10: Regulatory Commitments

 

Part 3: The Manufacturing Process

Chapter 11: Scope Development

Chapter 12: Reaction Unit (Phase 2)

Chapter 13: Monomer Unit (Phase 3)

Chapter 14: Commissioning Phase

Chapter 15: Process Hazard Analysis

Chapter 16: Case Study - Repeat Failures

 

Part 4: Process Containment

Chapter 17: Management of Change

Chapter 18: Warning Signals

Chapter 19: Workaround Procedures

Chapter 20: Compliance Audits

Chapter 21: Process Optimization

Chapter 22: A Business Fails

Chapter 23: Catastrophic Process Release

Chapter 24: Case Study - Identifying the Source of Human Performance Failures

 

Part 5: Lessons Learned

Chapter 25: Process Reliability, Process Safety, and Industry Performance

Chapter 26: Defining Your Process Safety Identity

 

Exercises