Determination and score of effective criteria to prioritize emergency situations in a petrochemical industry

The number of emergency situations is high in petrochemical industry. These situations cause devastating injuries and loss and a lot of time, cost, facilities, and resources are needed to control all of them. Selection and prioritization of emergencies are important to take the corrective actions. The purpose of this study was to determine the effective criteria in selection of emergency situations and to provide an approach for prioritization of emergency situations based on the defined criteria in petrochemical industries. This qualitative and applied study was conducted in a petrochemical complex in 2018. The Delphi technique was used to identify and prioritize the appropriate criteria. In the next step, a table was designed to score the emergencies. The most important criteria for selection of hazardous emergencies were the damage severity, probability of occurrence, loss or disruptions in production, spatial context of accident, and social effects. The most important emergencies in the industry included fires and explosions in gas discharging units, chemical storage places, and pressurized equipment containing butadiene. Using this approach, high-priority emergencies were identified. This helps managers to plan control measures, analyze these emergencies, and respond to them in order to prevent crisis.