(127f) Facility Siting Database and Analysis

The OSHA Code of Federal Regulations requires a facility siting analysis as part of the Process Hazard Analysis requirements. Recognizing that the petrochemical community needed guidance on the preparation of a facility siting study, the American Petroleum Institute and the Chemical Manufacturer's Association, provide procedures and methods for screening and calculating the potential impacts of explosions, fires and toxic gases to personnel and buildings. ACTA developed a Facility Siting Database and Analysis Software (FSDAN) tool to provide an approach to automating the process of performing a facility siting study, which provides consequence analysis and a risk-based results. The tool uses a database approach to manage building data, potential blast sources, hazardous material inventories, and occupation information. The approach and complexities of the technical tasks performed by FSDAN are described in this paper. The tool provides instant access to information for everyday decision-making and a cost effective means to update the study; the impact of changes can be instantly accessed. For instance, an explosion analysis could be evaluated instantly to locate the safe zone to place temporary trailers.