Hazard & Risk Analysis - Fire & Risk Alliance, LLC

Hazard Assessment & Risk Analysis
Facility Siting Studies, Process Hazard Assessment, HAZOP/HAZID, Quantitative Risk Assessment, Consequence Modeling, and Advanced CFD Modeling Services
Process Hazard Assesment (PHA)
What-If Checklist, Hazard and Operability Study (HAZOP), Failure Modes & Effects Analysis (FMEA), Safety Integrity Level (SIL), Layers of Protection Analysis (LOPA), and Fault and Event Tree Analysis
Advanced Modeling & Simulation
Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation, Fire & Smoke Modeling (FDS, FireFOAM), Thermal Radiation Modeling (PHAST, FDS), Gas Dispersion (PHAST, FDS, FLACS), Explosion Modeling (PHAST, FLACS, BREEZE)
Fire & Explosion Risk Assessment
Industrial Facilities, LNG Import & Export Facilities, Onshore & Offshore Oil & Gas Terminals, Petrochemical Facilities, and Commercial Buildings

Hazard Assessment & Risk Analysis Services

Providing clients with a full spectrum of Hazard Identification, Hazard Assessment, Quantitative & Qualitative Risk Analysis, Advanced Hazard Modeling & Simulation, and Consequence Modeling Services

Hazard Assessment

Fire and Explosion Safety is essential to the operation of any industrial facility. Several steps must be taken to protect a facility from fires and explosions, the first being Hazard Evaluation. Hazards must be identified until all possible accident scenarios are exhausted, and their consequences quantified. Managers, engineers, and operators must be educated on how to identify fire and explosion hazards in the workplace and control them to eliminate the potential for an accident.

Define fire and explosion hazards.
Determine vulnerable structures and equipment.
Quantify hazards using source models, dispersion models, and fire and explosion models.
Develop worst-case hazard scenarios.
Application of computational modeling software to evaluate consequences.

The Engineers and Scientists within the FRA have the education, expertise, and experience to perform high quality, in depth hazard evaluations for any type of facility. Our experts also offer guidance and education for the engineers and managers that will be leading process hazard assessments (PHA) for their companies.

Risk Analysis

The FRA provides a wide range of consequence and risk analysis services utilizing appropriate technical tools and methodologies to ensure that our clients needs are fulfilled while assessing the potential risks to personnel, equipment, operations, and the community. Typical projects including many or all of the following:

Facility siting study to identify worst case fire, toxic, and explosive scenarios for both on and off-site consequences.
Calculate and/or model quantitative probabilities and qualitative measures to generate risk assessments of hazard consequences.
Hazard assessments using tools and methodologies such as: What-If Analysis, HAZOP/HAZID, Consequence modeling (PHAST), complex QRA’s, empirical calculations, and CFD modeling tools (FDS, FLACS, BREEZE).
Hazard consequences are analyzed using GIS and spatial analysis to assist in determining community effects, emergency response planning, and facility siting recommendations.

Our recommendations include analysis of mitigation measures, analyses of worse case scenarios, regulatory compliance, and emergency response planning.

Hazard Assessment Services

PHA/HAZOP/HAZID

The FRA can provide efficient and value-added HAZOPs, HAZIDs, and process hazard analyses (PHAs) for a broad range of industries. We have performed numerous studies, re-validations and related studies, and our staff are respected experts with extensive experience in their field. We can provide facilitators and scribes to conduct the studies. Additionally we can team with your staff in any necessary way to provide a full range of Hazard Identification services.

Hazard Identification Services

The FRA can assist in developing a successful Hazard identification program for your company by:

Facilitating and documenting studies
Facilitating studies while the client scribes
Coaching during studies
Updating and revalidating studies
Hazard auditing
Providing SIL evaluations or LOPA studies
Training, including leader training using the HAZOP and what-if/checklist techniques, updating and revalidating PHAs, advanced PHA leader techniques, LOPA, practical application of SIL evaluations and management of change (MOC)

FRA staff have decades of experience and also have a unique perspective in that we participate and lead investigations and are able to bring this experience into the PHA process. This can aid the client in identifying hazards and prioritizing risks and recommended safeguards. Using this systematic process client companies can evaluate the safety of a process and determine which safety measures will have the most impact. We have licenses for most standard commercial PHA software tools and can adjust them according to clients needs.

Security Vilnerability Assessment

The FRA can provide a wide range of comprehensive security vulnerability and threat assessments for industrial and commercial clients, government agencies, and critical infrastructure owners and operators. We can perform this work in the US as well as overseas and have done this for many clients with critical needs. We utilize state-of-the-art tools to aid in the assessment and can evaluate effects on structures, equipment, and personnel. We can provide services which comply with CFATS and SEMA requirements and have staff that have been involved in major overseas operations including in high risk operations.

Our Security and Vulnerability Services include:

Blast Predictions and Impact to Personnel, Equipment, and Structures
Blast Resistant Building Design
Recommendations for Building Retrofits to meet Blast Load Exposures
Flammable, Toxic, and Gas Dispersion Modeling
Security Risk Assessments

Electrical Area Classification

The FRA can provide Electrical Area Classifications (EAC) for facilities according to NFPA, API, and BS standards. We can ensure that equipment is appropriately classified based on its location in a facility and the potential release sources. Typical EAC are broken down based on tables similar to those provided by NFPA.

Safety & Emergency Response Plans

We utilize the results of detailed Hazard Assessments and Risk analysis to formulate safety standards for processes and equipment as well as developing facility and community emergency response plans incorporating the following:

Determine event probability and failure frequency.
Evaluate effectiveness of safety systems and mitigation measures.
Develop recommendations and implementation program.
Optimization of gas detection systems and explosion vent locations.
Operational safety procedure development.

Risk Analysis Services

Facility Siting Studies

The FRA can provide clients with solutions for their facility siting requirements. We can provide flammable and toxic gas dispersion modeling, explosion modeling, on and off-site damage assessment, and fire modeling services. We can tailor the analysis to the specific needs of the client and can ensure that the requirements of 29 CFR 1910.119 and guidance provided by API RP-752 and API RP-753 are met.

The analysis produced by FRA staff after the BP Texas City disaster and included in BP’s Fatal Accident Report was critical in informing the changes in API-753. Our detailed analysis using CFD tools highlighted the impact that wind, obstructions, and other parameters played on the dispersion of the gas and the ensuing explosion. When compared to simplified screening tools the tools utilized by the FRA can greatly enhance the security of your facility and ensure that adequate safety measures are in place to meet the toxic, fire, and blast requirements of relevant API and industrial standards.

Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA)

A Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) may be performed in order to better identify the consequences and frequencies associated with potential loss events. This can be critical in determining sound mitigation strategies for a facility and combines the consequences of an event with the frequency and risk tolerance of the client. The data gathered can help to inform stakeholders about the most effective mitigation strategies so that they can be prioritized and implemented into the corporate safety plan. Increasingly companies are emphasizing consequence analysis and placing a lesser emphasis on frequency as continuous catastrophic losses have shown that industry guidelines for frequencies may be invalid. The FRA team has extensive experience in conducting QRAs and also combines their investigation experience to ensure that a sensical QRA is performed.

QRAs can be performed for both on and off-shore facilities including LNG, LPG, Floating Production Storage and Offloading Platforms (FPSO), Refineries, Gas Plants, Petrochemical, and other facilities. The QRA can be performed at any time during the lifetime of a facility, however it is typically done at an early stage or during expansions so that the results can have impact on the proposed facility layout and process.

Fire Risk Assesment

The FRA can perform Fire Risk Assessments for all facilities. We have performed assessments for on and off-shore oil & gas facilities, petrochemical facilities, commercial, industrial, and health care occupancies. Our fire risk assessments can help you meet your work-place safety goals as well as meet any fire safety regulations that apply to your facility. We have licensed fire protection engineers on staff in addition to chemical, mechanical, and electrical engineers. In addition we pride ourselves on working closely with our clients to ensure that an optimal fire protection strategy is achieved.

Fire & Gas Detection Studies

Fire and gas detection systems play a crucial role in loss prevention and mitigation in many facilities. Standard guidelines exist for sensor placement, however the recommended placement may result in a non-optimal solution. We utilize sophisticated tools and software to aid in our fire & gas detection studies. We can assess arrangements from initial designs through construction as well as for existing installations. The studies ensure that detectors are adequately numbered, are the appropriate type (open-path, point, etc.), and that the overall system design meets the corporate and regulatory requirements and also provides an optimized system.