Operations' risks in the chemical industry

I have some experience of working in the chemical industry. I believe that there is a large spectrum of potential operations’ risks as a function of materials used, reactions involved and scale. I worked for a chemical company producing a commodity with a raw-material that was both explosive in contact with oxygen and carcinogenic.

If I had to remember the operations’s risks I would start by making a process flowchart: Raw materials must be stored, conveyed, reacted, products stored, byproducts treated.

Operations can be on:

Normal situation;
Startup situation;
Termination situation;
Abnormal situation;
Emergency situation.

Operations risk can be:

Power failure – loss of control of reaction
Power failure – loss of control of storage temperature
Power failure – loss of mixing of suspended solids stored
Loss of control of the chemical reaction
Pressure buildup
Pipping leaks
Corrosion
Heat exchanger fouling
Raw materials contaminated
Finished product contaminated due to wrong cleaning procedures both of reactor or pipping

The following material will provide you information about the risk-based approach:

- ISO 9001 – How to address risks and opportunities in ISO 9001 - https://advisera.com/9001academy/blog/2016/06/21/how-to-address-risks-and-opportunities-in-iso-9001/
- Risk-based thinking replacing preventive action in ISO 9001:2015 – The benefits - https://advisera.com/9001academy/knowledgebase/risk-based-thinking-replacing-preventive-action-in-iso-90012015-the-benefits/
- ISO 9001:2015 Risk Management Toolkit - https://advisera.com/9001academy/iso-90012015-risk-management-toolkit/
- free online training ISO 9001:2015 Foundations Course – https://advisera.com/training/iso-9001-foundations-course/
- book - Discover ISO 9001:2015 Through Practical Examples - https://advisera.com/books/discover-iso-9001-2015-through-practical-examples/