Risk Management and Hydrogen SafetyRisk Management and Hydrogen SafetyAndrei V. TchouvelevAndrei V. Tchouvelev

22ndnd International Conference on Hydrogen International Conference on Hydrogen SafetySafety

San Sebastian, September 11-13, 2007San Sebastian, September 11-13, 2007

Financial SupportPresented research was supported in part by Natural Resources Canada through the activities of the Codes and Standards Working Group of the Canadian Transportation Fuel Cell Alliance, and by the US Department of Energy through SNL and NREL, and by the collaborating industry and academia partners (AVT, TISEC, HRI and Powertech)

Special thanks to Dick Kauling from GM Canada for valuable contribution to this presentation

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AcknowledgementAcknowledgement

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OutlineOutline

Concept of Risk Risk Perception Safety and Risk Risk Criteria Concept of Risk Management Risk Based Approach Conclusions

Concept of RiskConcept of RiskDefining Risk – Risk as a qualitative (social) construct: The word ‘risk’ derives from the early Italian risicare, which means ‘to

dare’. In this sense, risk is a choice rather than a fate. (Bernstein, 1996, p.8)

Risk may be defined as a systematic way of dealing with hazards and insecurities and introduced by modernization itself. (Beck, 1992, p.21)

Risks evolve along with societal progress. ...if there were no tomorrow there would be no risk. (Bernstein, 1996, p.15)

Several arguments have been put forward by social scientists that quantitative determinations of risk are inadequate in portraying the influence of social factors. The Royal Society (1992) argued that “risk is socially constructed.”

Klinke and Renn (2001) incorporate human influence and values into their definition: “Risk refers to the possibility that human actions or events lead to consequences that affect aspects of what humans value.”

Risk is all in the mind. (Adams, 2005) Risk perception is a response to uncertainty. (Eiser, 2004, p.32)

44RSA Risk Commission

Concept of RiskConcept of RiskDefining Risk – Risk as a quantitative (technical) construct: During the Renaissance risk became an area of serious study leading to

Pascal and Fermet’s discovery of the theory of probability. From its early beginnings where problems of chance associated with

gambling consumed the efforts of early mathematicians risk has evolved into a tool for organising, interpreting and analysing information to make decisions about the future

The ability to apply mathematical principles to defining risks has enabled the development of methodologies geared towards their identification and management. These methodologies are based on the notion that risk is a function of the magnitude and the probability of harm

Technical vs Social: This two dimensional construction of risk is deemed to be too narrow by

social scientists as people have a multi-dimensional concept of risk. A purely technical assessment of risk does not address adequately the social characteristics inherent in risk and is therefore not an adequate basis for policy-making (Kasperson, et al., 2000). Merging quantitative risk measurements with the social dimensions of risk is exercising the minds of policymakers and others engaged in the risk debate

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Canadian National Standard Q-850 Risk Management: Guidelines for Decision-Makers“Risk involves three key issues:

The frequency of the loss, that is, how often the loss may occur;

The consequences of the loss, that is, how large might the loss be; and

The perception of the loss, that is, how a potential risk is viewed by affected stakeholders in terms of its effect on

their needs, issues, and concerns.

Because there is a need to understand how a potential loss might affect and be perceived by the various stakeholders, it is insufficient, and indeed can be quite misleading, for the decision-maker to consider risk solely in terms of probability and consequence.”

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Is Risk Perception Part of Risk?Is Risk Perception Part of Risk?

Example of “Hindenburg”:“My only answer to him is

Hindenburg” – Robin Williams’s comment on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s hydrogen initiative in California (Jay Leno show, June 2006)

70 years after, “Hindenburg” still remains a key driver of public risk perception of hydrogen despite explicit proof by Dr. Addison Bain that hydrogen is not “responsible” for this disaster

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Is This True Representation of Risk?Is This True Representation of Risk?

Question: Does this mean that if people THINK hydrogen is risky, it IS risky?

Risk Perception Risk Perception “Societal risk perception is influenced by several factors of which the role of the media is a prominent example. Poor public understanding of risk is compounded by sensationalist news reporting, which can reinforce inaccurate perceptions. This, in turn, influences the climate of public debate and, hence, government responses. “RSA Risk Commissionhttp://www.rsa.org.uk/acrobat/RiskoverviewSept04rev1SW.pdf

The most recent available data shows that just 4% of fatalities are accidental. E.g. in the USA in 2003 out of 2.5 million deaths only about 110,000 were due to accidents, including 594 due to falling out of bed and 22 due to skydiving.

Does this mean that skydiving is less risky than sleeping (falling out of bed)?

This type of fatalities statistics does not communicate the actual risk of various activities!

Risk Perception Risk Perception

Actually skydiving is (128.71 / 0.14 =) 9,194 times riskier than sleeping (falling out of bed)!

Comparative Risk of Different ActivitiesComparative Risk of Different Activities

http://www.icebike.org/Articles/HowSafe.htm

The UK national rail transport system has reduced the number of fatalities per year to its lowest level since the 1940s but there is a perception that even one fatal accident per year is one too many. Several questions emerge from this observation:• Is it realistic to expect zero risk from a mass transport system such as the railway?• Is the perception that society is unwilling to accept this level of risk genuine or is it contrived by the media coverage given to rail fatalities versus snowboarding fatalities for example?• Should budgetary considerations influence the determination of an acceptable number of permissible fatal accidents per year?

Fatal Train Accidents per year in the UK

Risk Perception Risk Perception

Risk Perception Risk Perception People are willing to accept the risks associated with activities that

they choose to participate in compared with those that they have no control over. The level of control that a person feels that he/she can exert over a risk has a direct bearing on the degree of seriousness attached to the risk.

Example: Rail and bus are clearly the safest forms of travel by a significant margin but nonetheless car purchases continue unabated year on year in the UK; new car registrations average 2.45 to 2.5 million per year.

Comparative Risk AssessmentComparative Risk Assessment

As society has become more complex, the ability of the public to assess and deal with comparative risks has diminished.

HyViewtm

List of Facility Components

Distance between Components

Stand-Out Scenario Expert System

Codes and Standards Expert System

Code Compliance Expert System

First Responder Training System

Codes and Standards Report

Codes and Standards Data Base

Clearance Distance Data Base

Clearance Distance Compliance Report

Frequency Analysis

Consequence Analysis

Isograph FaultTree+

Failure Rate Database

Thermal Effects Analysis

Risk Analysis

Risk Assessment Report and Displays

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Page 1

Hydrogen Safety, Training and Risk Workplace

Ignition Probability Database

Data Display

Risk Communication and Risk Communication and EducationEducation

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Courtesy of Jim Ohi, NRELCanadian H2 Safety Program

Perception of Safety or Risk?Perception of Safety or Risk? Definition: Safety is freedom from unacceptable risk (ISO/IEC Guide 51:1999) This effectively means that: Risk is the technical (quantitative) measure of safety Society accepts the fact that there is neither absolute (i.e., 100%) safety

nor zero risk Society, de facto, establishes acceptable levels of risk or risk

acceptance criteria Hence, safety not risk is a moving target because: Safety depends on acceptable level of risk, which (level) is subject to

public perception or political / regulatory decisions, i.e. social factors Risk criteria affect only the level of acceptable risk (i.e. safety), but NOT

the risk value itself Safety cannot be calculated while risk can Conclusion: It appears that ‘safety’ is a social construct rather than ‘risk’ Thus, perception is a component of ‘safety’, not ‘risk’

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Risk CriteriaRisk Criteria Definition: Risk criteria – terms of reference by which the significance of risk is

assessed Establishment of risk criteria is a key element in risk management

decision making: Individual risk reflects the frequency that an average person located

permanently at a certain location is harmed Societal risk reflects the relationship between the frequency and the

number of people harmed Options for selection of risk criteria: Specify that the risk from hydrogen accidents be some fraction of the total

risk to individuals from all unintentional injuries, or Utilize just the individual fatality and injury risk associated with only fires

and explosions Specify that the risk associated with hydrogen refuelling stations be at par

with the risk associated with gasoline or CNG stations

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Risk Criteria and RCS ProcessRisk Criteria and RCS Process

The need to comply with risk acceptance criteria suggests that:

Any product must have a basic design that satisfies risk acceptance criteria and thus ensures minimum acceptable level of safety under intended operating conditions

Methods and tools are required to measure and verify product compliance with acceptable levels of risk

Codes and standards that identify minimum design, performance and installation requirements as well as regulations that guide permitting and approval processes have to reflect those risk acceptance criteria in order to become risk-informed

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Concept of Risk ManagementConcept of Risk Management

Risk management – coordinated activities to direct and control an organization with regard to risk. Risk management generally includes risk assessment, risk treatment, risk acceptance and risk communication. ISO / IEC Guide 73: 2002

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Risk Based Safety ManagementRisk Based Safety Management

Risk based safety management vs Consequence based safety management:Consequence based approach:•Worst conceivable events at an installation handling hazardous materials should not have consequences outside certain boundariesRisk based approach:•Residual risk should be analysed both with respect to the frequencies and probabilities and the nature of hazard•Opportunity for further risk mitigation•Very unlikely events may, but not necessarily will, be tolerated

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Risk Based ApproachRisk Based ApproachLeak Frequency DataYes, we need frequency data, however:

CNG infrastructure data can be used as a guidance

Key SolutionComprehensive maintenance and inspection program!

Systems are designed NOT to leak

They are tested at the factory and during commissioning

Maintenance and inspection schedule AHEAD of anticipated failures is key to preventing leaks.

THE ONE WHO CONTROLS FREQUENCIES CONTROLS RISKTHE ONE WHO CONTROLS FREQUENCIES CONTROLS RISK

Courtesy of Frank Markert, RISO

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ConclusionsConclusions Safety and Risk: Safety is a social construct and a moving target – depends on risk criteria Risk is a technical construct – can be precisely calculated Risk Perception: Should it be re-qualified as Safety Perception? Role of the media is crucial in forming perceptions Risk Criteria: Terms of reference determining the significance of risk and its acceptable

level – critical for establishing safety requirements RCS, to ensure optimal safety, need to take risk acceptance criteria into

account, i.e. be risk-informed Risk Based Safety Management: With the established risk criteria, risk based approach allows to determine

maximum allowable level of leak frequencies and eliminate large (catastrophic) leaks from consideration of safety distances – crucial for siting of hydrogen infrastructure

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Core TeamCore Team

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION