Contribution to developing a new environmental risk management methodology for industrial sites

Abstract

A fundamental requirement of any environmental management system for industrial sites is the identification and assessment of risk. To meet international standards in terms of environmental protection and preservation, industrial sites should ensure that a comprehensive environmental risk management process is in place by systematically identifying and managing risks arising from internal and external factors. The purpose of this study was to develop a new methodology to determine the significance of environmental hazardous situations associated with a process or activity. It uses qualitative or quantitative techniques to pinpoint weaknesses in design, operation, and lines of defense provided by engineering and administrative controls, which can lead to an environmentally hazardous event. It may also provide an assessment of risk resulting from the magnitude of the consequence and the probability of the environmental event occurring. The fundamental principle of this new risk-based hazard methodology is that whilst risk cannot be eliminated, it should be possible to reduce to ALARP (as low as reasonably practicable), and the environmental risk matrix could be a useful tool for establishing if an environmental risk rating is tolerable or not based on the likelihood and consequences. The outcome of this study is developing a new environmental risk matrix based on different consequences (health, environmental, reputation, and business interruption) with likelihood criteria. This matrix could be applied by industrial sites to identify and control their environmental risks.