Introduction to Inherently Safer Design (ISD)

Uncategorized
Wishlist Share

About Course

A beginner-friendly introduction to safer design in chemical and process plants.

Course Content

Introduction to Inherently Safer Design (ISD)
Welcome to this course on Inherently Safer Design

  • Introduction
  • The Goal of This Course
  • Basic Definitions
  • Real World Example
  • What is Inherent Safety?
  • Why is it Important?
  • How do we do it?
  • Where does Inherent Safety lie in the Hierarchy of Controls?

Risk Management Strategies
This breaks down our safety strategies into four distinct categories. You can think of this as a ranking of how reliable each strategy is.

Strategy 1: Minimise
The first strategy is Minimise (sometimes called "Intensification"). The idea is simple: "What you don't have, can't leak." If we reduce the amount of dangerous material, we reduce the damage if something goes wrong. The next few slides look at how we can minimise the storage, minimise the piping and finally protecting people by minimising maintenance by using more reliable parts.

Strategy 2: Substitute
While "Minimise" reduces the amount of a hazard, “Substitute” aims to remove the hazard entirely or replace it with something less hazardous. This is often the most powerful Inherently Safer Design (ISD) principle because it removes the need for expensive safety add-ons (like shutdown systems) by changing the basic nature of the process.

Strategy 3: Moderate
The principle of Moderate means: "If we can't eliminate the hazard, can we make it less dangerous?" This means using hazardous materials in a safer way; for example, at lower pressure, lower temperatures or in weaker (diluted) form.

Strategy 4: Simplify
The Simplify principle is based on the idea that complexity leads to failure. Every extra part, control step, or transfer point creates a new chance for a mechanical break or a human mistake. Instead of adding new systems to fix errors, the goal is to design a simple system where errors cannot happen in the first place.

Strategy 5: Segregate
The first three principles (Minimise, Substitute, Moderate) try to prevent an accident. Segregation is different: it assumes an accident might happen. It uses physical distance or walls to protect people and equipment. By putting dangerous machines far away from where people work, you limit the damage if something goes wrong.

Case Studies

Introduction to Inherently Safer Design (ISD) Continued
Inherent Safety is not something we just do once. We must think about it during the entire life of the plant.

ISD Questions

Student Ratings & Reviews

No Review Yet
No Review Yet

Home

Expertise

About

Careers

Contact