Quantitative Assessment of Safety Barrier Performance in the Prevention of Cascading Events

PresentationThe prevention of high-impact low-probability (HILP) events in industrial clusters or complex industrial areas where critical infrastructures are present critically depends on the presence and the performance of safety barriers that may have the potential to prevent escalation. In recent years a set of tools and models were developed for the quantitative assessment of risk due to cascading events and domino scenarios. The aim of the present study is the integration of tools for risk assessment with a specific approach allowing a detailed assessment of safety barrier performance. A LOPA (layer of protection analysis) based methodology, aimed at the definition and quantification of safety barrier performance in the prevention of escalation was developed. The method allowed the quantitative characterization of alternative mitigated and unmitigated escalation scenarios. Data were collected on the more common types of safety barriers aimed at the prevention of fire escalation. An example of application was developed, allowing the quantitative assessment of risk mitigation of cascading events triggered by fire escalation based on the assessment of safety barrier performance