Flixborough 50 Years On: Reader Feedback
To finish the series of articles we’ve published this year for the 40th anniversary of the Flixborough disaster, we asked the TCE Reader Feedback Panel for their insights on how well safety is being managed, and what fresh fears they face
Q: What other factors not listed are important in your industry?
Replacement of ageing equipment
Andrew Black
Community support and involvement
Jewel Okwechime
Management of shift manning numbers, fatigue and control room distractions/overload. Competence of shift cover operators
Mark Wilson
Poorly informed senior management who spend little time to learn
Tung Nguyen
Q: Flixborough occurred at a time when the process industries had experienced massive changes in the scale of operation and the processes being used. We are on the cusp of another period of massive change. What changes do you think will be necessary to meet the challenges of the future?
“Future systems must emphasise adaptability, integrating dynamic risk assessment tools powered by AI to predict and mitigate potential failures in real time. Regulation will need to evolve to address the complexities of new materials, processes, and players, ensuring compliance without stifling innovation. Moreover, a stronger focus on cross-disciplinary collaboration will be critical.” Roy Calder
“The biggest challenge will come from new players entering businesses that are well understood by existing ones. Hydrogen comes to mind. We’ve used it in refineries under our existing system of work and risk assessment. New players may think that they don’t need the extensive safety systems. The other side of the discussion is that regulators are not set up to deal with these new technologies.” Richard Greenock
“Novel systems will require designers and operators to identify novel accident scenarios, highlighting the need for rigorous Whatif and HAZOP studies without shortcuts.” Peter Waite
“While AI has its place in safety it is still constrained by what it has ‘seen’ before, which unfortunately does not cover all the possible futures associated with a complex system. This requires imagination and counterfactual thinking, hence the need for humans in the loop.” Grant Wellwood
“Incident reporting and investigation will be a priority as new technologies come online. Identifying and learning from near misses will be important to avoid catastrophic incidents.” Paul Taranto
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