Introduction

BKC3112
 Topic outcome
Explain the critical importance of safety and health management within the
chemical and biotechnology industries, recognizing the potential impact on
personnel, the environment, and the community.
Define process safety and distinguish it from personal safety, identifying
common hazards inherent in process industries.
Apply basic OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) formulas to
calculate Incidence rate and fatalities rate
Why Safety is Non-Negotiable
Safety and health in the chemical and biotech industries are not just about
compliance; they are a core business value.
Ethical Responsibility: We have a moral duty to protect our employees,
contractors, and the surrounding community from harm.
Economic Imperative: A strong safety record prevents catastrophic financial
losses from accidents, fines, and litigation. It enhances reputation and investor
confidence. 💰
Environmental Stewardship: Prevents the release of hazardous materials that
can cause long-term damage to ecosystems.
Sustainability: Ensures the long-term viability and social license to operate.
The Hidden Cost of Safety Incidents
 Hazard, Risk & Safety
Hazard: chemical/physical condition that has the potential to
cause damage to people, property or the environment.
Example: A 5,000-gallon tank of flammable methanol is a
hazard.

Risk: The likelihood (probability) that a hazard will cause harm,

combined with the severity of that harm.
Example: The risk is the chance of the tank leaking and
igniting, and the severity is the resulting fire and
explosion.

Safety aims to control hazards to

manage and reduce risk.
 Class activity
In a group of 3-4, choose 1 scenario and discuss about the hazard, risk and
safety measures needed. Share your finding in the class whiteboard. (maximum
time given: 10 minutes)

Scenario 1: An employee is using an electric kettle with a frayed power cord to boil water in the office pantry.
Scenario 2: A technician is pouring a corrosive acid from a large drum into a small beaker on an open bench
without any personal protective equipment (PPE).
Scenario 3: A student is trying to improve their rank in a competitive online game. They play for 8 hours straight,
sitting on a simple plastic chair, staring intently at the screen. They have only consumed a bottle of Coke and a
packet of keropok lekor all evening.
Scenario 4: A student plugs a power strip into a single wall socket in their dorm room. They then plug their laptop,
phone, tablet, and a portable fan into the power strip. They leave all the devices charging on their bed overnight,
partially covered by the blanket. The power strip feels warm to the touch.
Scenario 5: A person is driving home on the East Coast Expressway during a heavy thunderstorm, which is
common in Pahang. The visibility is poor, and there are large puddles of water on the road. They are driving at the
normal speed limit of 110 km/h because they are in a hurry.
Scenario 6: A leaky pipe in the plant is dripping oil onto a walkway frequently used by workers.
Personal Safety vs Process Safety
It is crucial to understand the two pillars of industrial safety.
Personal Safety (or Occupational Safety):
Focuses on preventing individual injuries.
Think slips, trips, falls, and ergonomic issues.
Managed through procedures like PPE requirements and safe work permits.
Process Safety:
Focuses on preventing catastrophic accidents.
Think fires, explosions, and large-scale toxic releases.
Managed through robust engineering design, maintenance, and management
systems.
 Process Safety
Process safety focuses on preventing unintentional releases of chemicals and energy from
manufacturing processes. It involves designing and maintaining facilities to prevent catastrophic
accidents like fires, explosions, and toxic releases. A hazard is any source of potential damage,
harm, or adverse health effects on something or someone. In the process industry, these include:

Chemical Hazards: Toxic, flammable, corrosive, or reactive substances.

Physical Hazards: Extreme temperatures or pressures, noise, radiation, and moving machinery.
Biological Hazards: Pathogenic microorganisms, viruses, or toxins, particularly relevant in
biotechnology.
Ergonomic Hazards: Repetitive tasks or poor workstation design that can lead to
musculoskeletal injuries.
 Safety and Health
Chemical industry is entering an era of more complex processes. This lead to more
complex safety and health technology ~ earlier became constraint to industrialists.

The importance is to:

Prevents the valuable equipments from totally damaged and losing a large amount of
investment.
Assures the long human resource contribution to profit the chemical plant.
To avoid other indirect cost like the Iceberg theory.

Safety deals with acute effects of hazards, whereas health deals with chronic effects of
hazards.
 Measure What Matters
To manage safety effectively, we must measure our performance. Standardised
metrics allow for comparison and tracking of progress over time.

We will focus on three key lagging indicators:

1. OSHA Incidence Rate
2. Fatal Accident Rate (FAR)
3. Fatality Rate

These metrics provide a snapshot of past performance to help inform future

actions.
 OSHA Incidence Rate
The OSHA Incidence Rate calculates the number of recordable incidents per 100 full-
time workers over a year. It's a common benchmark for occupational safety.

Where:
N = number of recordable injuries and/or illnesses
EH = total hours worked by all employees during the year
200,000 = base rate for 100 employees working 40 hours
per week, 50 weeks per year.
 OSHA Incidence Rate
Example: A chemical plant has 15 recordable injuries in a year, with employees
working a total of 1,250,000 hours.

This means for every 100 full-time workers, there were 2.4
recordable injury or illness cases during the year.
 Fatal Accident Rate (FAR)
The FAR measures the expected number of fatalities based on 1,000 employees
working their entire lifetime (assumed to be 50 years). It is often expressed per 100
million hours of exposure. This metric is useful for evaluating high-hazard activities.
 Fatal Accident Rate (FAR)
Example: A multinational corporation reports 2 fatalities over a period where
employees worked 40 million hours.

This indicates 5 fatalities could be expected for every

100 million hours worked under those conditions.
 Fatality Rate
This is a more straightforward metric, often expressed as the number of deaths per
100,000 workers in a given year.

Example: A facility with 4,000 employees experienced one fatality in a year.

This means there were 5 fatalities for every 100,000 workers that year.
 Conclusion
Safety is more than just rules and statistics; it is a shared value and a collective responsibility.
Beyond Compliance: We must strive for a standard of safety that goes beyond the
minimum requirements.
Proactive Mindset: Focus on leading indicators—like near-miss reporting and safety
observations—to prevent accidents before they happen.
Shared Ownership: Safety is everyone's job. From the newest hire to the CEO, each person
plays a critical role in identifying risks and speaking up.
Continuous Improvement: A robust safety culture is never finished. It is a journey of
constant learning, adapting, and vigilance.

Our ultimate goal is not just to manage risk, but to create an environment where Zero Harm is
an achievable reality.
Thank
You