[SystemSafety] NYTimes: The Next Accident Awaits

[Martyn Thomas]

I'm a non-exec Director at the UK's Health and Safety Laboratory
(www.hsl.gov.uk). We carry out the basic research that underpins the
UK's regulation of occupational health and safety, ranging from reducing
accidents on construction sites and improving the tethering of loads on
lorries, through to reproducing and analysing major explosions (such as
Buncefield - http://www.buncefieldinvestigation.gov.uk/) and
destruction-testing the physical integrity of tankers and rolling-stock.

We also undertake commercial work that uses our unusual experimental and
analysis capabilities and very strong science base.

The UK is unusual in having a goal-based, safety-case regulatory regime
and a regulator (HSE) with its own expert research establishment (HSL).
We are getting an increasing number of approaches from Governments in
the Far and Middle East who see the UK's good performance in
occupational Health and Safety and who want to investigate setting up
similar goal-based regulation. 

Maybe there is something in the HSE/HSL approach that the US chemical
industry could benefit from.

Regards

Martyn
Martyn Thomas CBE FREng




On 29/01/2014 22:05, Peter Bernard Ladkin wrote:
> A worthy opinion piece from the Chair of the US Chemical Safety Board. Note his suggestion that identifying hazards and mitigation is just well-established best practice. I can say from experience that it is not yet in Europe in all industries with safety aspects, even though he holds Europe up as having a factor of three fewer chemical accidents as the US.

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