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.

Part 1: Process Reliability

Chapter 1: Industrial Learning Processes

Chapter 2: Equipment Reliability Principles

Chapter 3: Incident Investigation

Chapter 4: Role Statement

Chapter 5: Spent Caustic Tank Explosion: A Case Study in Inherently Safer Design

Part 2: Research and Development

Chapter 6: Inventing Solutions

Chapter 7: Product Manufacturing and Distribution

Chapter 8: Process Selection

Chapter 9: Industry Compliance

Chapter 10: Production Commitments

Part 3: Process Configuration

Chapter 11: Licensing

Chapter 12: Factory Construction

Chapter 13: Process Hazard Awareness and Analysis

Chapter 14: Commissioning Phase

Chapter 15: Repeat Mechanical Seal Failures: A Case Study in Pump Reliability Improvement

Part 4: Operations and Production

Chapter 16: Management of Change

Chapter 17: Process Isolation and Containment

Chapter 18: Employee Participation

Chapter 19: Compliance Audits

Chapter 20: Process Optimization

Chapter 21: Maintenance Failure

Chapter 22: Human Error

Part 5: Lessons Learned

Chapter 23: Crude Unit Fire: A Case Study in Human Error

Chapter 24: Reliability Commitment

Process Engineers, Chemical Engineers, Plant managers, Industrial process trainers, Process technologists (operators), Process consultants, Reliability engineers, Safety Managers

• The Bhopal Disaster: understanding the impact of unreliable machinery, Hydrocarbon Processing Magazine, June 2012, pp 73-76

• Update your reliability performance to meet process safety expectations, Hydrocarbon Processing Magazine, June 2011, pp 45-53

• Process safety management lessons learned from a petroleum refinery spent caustic tank explosion, Process Safety Progress, December 2010, pp 332-339

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