Despite a strong focus on personnel safety and increasing focus on process safety, serious safety incidents continue to occur in oil & gas, petrochemicals, and other asset intensive industries. Headline grabbing examples from the past couple of years include: 1. The Kleen Energy explosion which killed six workers and injured 50 2. The CNRL Upgrader fire that led to a multiple months shutdown 3. The Upper Big Branch mine explosion involving 29 fatalities 4. The Macondo well explosion that killed 11 before triggering the largest offshore oil spill in United States history In fact, major incidents are occurring with increasing frequency. As a recent report by Marsh's Energy Practice highlights, more than one third of the 100 most costly property losses of the past four decades have occurred within the past nine years (see figure). This trend of increased major incident frequency has severe implications, as the cost of a single catastrophic event can reach upwards of $1 billion in damage and opportunity costs, with significant environmental impact, serious injuries and even loss of life.
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