The Benefits of a Risk-Based Approach to Facility Siting

Facility Siting has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, and is an important aspect of process safety for plant personnel and their contractors. In December 2009, API issued the Third Edition of the facility siting Recommended Practice 752, “Management of Hazards Associated with Location of Process Plant Permanent Buildings,” which incorporated much of what has been learned from catastrophic incidents since their Second Edition was published in 2003.

API RP 752 outlines three basic facility siting assessment approaches that can be utilized: a consequence based approach, a quantified risk assessment approach, and a spacing tables approach. This presentation summarizes the key elements of API RP 752, and demonstrates how a risk-based approach to facility siting can provide the best understanding of onsite risks, and can enable the most cost-effective resolution of facility siting issues.