Catastrophic Incidents: Prevention and Failure

The book analyses why human-made catastrophes continue to occur. The catastrophic risk associated with a range of high technology industries is described along with some major incidents and their causes. Different means available to prevent such incidents are summarized, together with explanations as to why these methods often fail.

Trevor John Hughes has 50 years of experience in the chemical and oil industries, working in various roles including process engineer, plant manager and site director. For 28 years he had direct supervisory and management responsibility for several manufacturing facilities in the U.K.. This was followed by 14 years as a consultant, primarily in process safety, working in offshore in the North Sea, and then on assignment in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia. For the last eight years he has worked primarily as an insurance risk engineer in Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Uzbekistan, Romania, most Western European countries and the U.S.A. He has graduate and post-graduate qualifications in both Chemical Engineering, and Health and Safety Management. Trevor has had a lifelong interest in the concept of risk. Currently he is an active Professional Process Safety Engineer.