(81cf) Criticality Analysis for Hazardous Materials Transportation

The conditions of Brazilians roads drive the companies to be more exigent with the transportation of hazardous materials to avoid accidents or materials releases with actions to contain the releases to community and water sources. To minimize this situation, DNV and BRASKEM developed a methodology for risk analysis called Criticality Analysis for Hazardous Materials Transportation. The objective of this methodology is identifying the most critical points of routes to make actions to avoid accidents. For each relevant product, identify from the company logistic matrix, the main routes are mapped and the characteristics are listed as: type and intensity of traffic, volume of product transported per year, type of vehicle, condition of the vehicles, maintenance and inspection, monitoring systems, management practices of the transportation company. In order to analyze the intensity of the effects, items as presence of communities nearby, existence of emergency equipment, proximity of pipeways or industrial areas, flammability/toxicity of the product, existence of water sources, among others. Each of these items receive a score and frequency and criticality are combined in a matrix, identify situations with high, medium and low criticality. The company can, then, decide upon mitigations to be implemented, based on the results obtained for the criticality analysis. Additionally, a map of each type of combination of product x route existing in the company can provide valuable for additional quantitative risk studies to be performed. In the analysis of a toxic product transportation, the indication of the classification as high criticality, the company has decided to perform a study to quantified the losses (maximum and estimated per year) of accidents involving the road transportation of the product and decide upon risk management measures (eg. use of trucks with smaller volume, use of protection when in high populated roads, changes on clients, among others). The first screening using the Criticality Analysis associated with quantitative studies is a very powerful tool for risk management, especially for situation as transportation that has several different variables involved.