Posted
04.06.2024
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Understanding and Mitigating the Risks
The risks posed by leaks of harmful substances are not always immediately obvious.
Beyond the acute dangers of exposure to toxic substances, smaller or frequent leaks can result cumulatively in long-term bad health, as well as environmental contamination and property damage. Systems need to be designed, operated, and maintained with meticulous attention to safety protocols.
Factors such as inadequate ventilation, equipment malfunction which does not failsafe for parts controlling any emissions, improper maintenance, inadequate or unskilled inspection, and human error can all aggravate the severity of the risk.
The recent HSE Safety Notice illustrates how, when all factors have not been appropriately considered, the failure of a single component can lead to the failure of the safety critical overfill protection. This highlights the importance of understanding the risk posed by the processes in place and ensuring safety critical protections are identified and are suitably managed and monitored
Role of Vapour Capture, Pressure Reliefs, and Overflow Valves
Vapour capture systems, pressure relief devices, and overflow valves are some of the critical safety devices used as engineered controls to mitigate the risks associated with harmful gas and vapour leaks.
In the incident which led to the HSE’s safety notice, the overfill protection of the VRU was linked with the basic process control system (BPCS), and when the BPCS failed it also caused the VRU overfill protection to fail leading to the unintended loss of containment.
