Identification and Assessment of health, safety and environmental risk factors of Chemical Industry using Delphi and FMEA methods (a case study)

Today, accidents, explosions, environmental damages and any defects in chemical industry are inevitable events. The ever-increasing of such industries makes effective risk management of these projects necessary to prevent environmental and health pollution and damage. The present study aimed to identify the possible risks caused by chemical industries in the south of Tehran (Iran) by examining the documents available in the health, safety and environment (HSE) units, interviewing experts, and using the Delphi technique and questionnaire. FMEA method was used to prioritize potential risks based on the risk priority number. Data analysis identified 17 risks in four environmental (n=6), health (n=5), safety (n=3) and occupational (n=3) categories. Based on the results of both Delphi and FMEA methods, the highest level of risk was related to three environmental aspects of "air pollution and air quality change", "surface water and groundwater pollution" and "soil pollution". According to the results of the FMEA method, in addition to the three environmental risks mentioned, the occupational risks including "failure to use personal protective equipment by personnel and lack of warning signs for personnel" and "human and operational errors, inappropriate equipment, and failure to comply with workplace safety instructions" were also detected as high-level risks. The findings of the current study revealed that despite the applicability of the FMEA technique in determining the risk factors caused by the activity of the chemical industry, preliminary hazard analysis is also suggested for a more accurate and complete assessment of this process.