Human reliability analysis for reducing risk in an LPG treatment and storage plant

Abstract : VIRTHUALIS is a European Research Project on Industrial Safety with the overall objective of evaluating and, where possible, reducing the risk level in production plants and storage sites with the integration of Virtual Reality and Human Factors methods. For the estimation of Human Error Probabilities a specific tool has been developed named the Fuzzy Probability Estimator (FPE). The application of the FPE tool in a specific case study is presented in this paper. The specific case study aims at analyzing the start-up of a gas turbine used to drive the compressor of the butane/propane refrigeration section of an LPG storage and treatment complex. The example chosen is the case of oil leakage at the coupling of the turbine with the compressor. Specifically detailed through bow-tie analysis, the action it refers to is the operator visual check of the coupling area. Performance Shaping Factors (PSFs) that influence operators' reliability have been identified and rated for the specific site according to expert judgment and on site observations from human factor experts.The PSFs are linked to specific task deviations and, in relation to those and to the need to observe how they influence the task, the design of VIRTHUALIS simulation experiments is performed