Presentation of Stephen Fortier on the topic "Developing an Incident Response Process Model for Chemical Facilities" at ISCRAM2013

1. Best Practice of Incident
Response for Chemical Facilities
10th International ISCRAM Conference
Baden-Baden, Germany
Stephen C. Fortier
13 May 2013

2. Outline
• Statement of the Problem
• Significance
• Scope and Limitations
• Research Goals
• Research Methodology
• Qualitative Results
• Quantitative Results
• Summary of Findings
• Recommendations for Future Research

3. Statement of the Problem
• Chemical industry experts state that there is no
standard or defined incident response mechanisms
for the chemical industry. The experts said that
incident response ranged from ad hoc to very
formalized processes
• There is poor collaboration between process control
engineering and the information technology function
which leads to less effective incident response,
according to industry experts
• No comprehensive description of information
technology utilization for incident response

4. Significance
• A thorough review of the literature provided no
references to incident response mechanisms for the
chemical industry. This research examined the
current state-of-the-art of incident response
mechanisms for chemical facilities
• The development of a normalized incident response
model would contribute to the scientific body of
knowledge for incident response for chemical
facilities

5. Scope and Limitations
• This research was limited to incident response
mechanisms for chemical facilities, and does not
include preparedness or recovery
• The research is limited to the physical infrastructure
of a chemical facility, from the control of the chemical
processes to the perimeter of the site
• The timeline is limited from the first notification of an
unplanned release to the development of the “go
forward” plan
• This research does not include external actors such
a fire, rescue and police, etc.

6. Research Goals
• Define the essential elements of an effective and
efficient chemical facility incident response
mechanism
• Determine if the size of a chemical facility influences
its ability to provide an effective response to a threat
• Determine which technologies could be utilized to
improve the incident response mechanism
• Review the technology, processes and methods
used in incident response to provide a range of
improved solutions

7. Research Methodology
1. Interview industry experts. Developed an
understanding of the problem through the use of
informal interviews.
2. Formulate and test questions. Design of initial set
of questions that were vetted by industry experts
3. Set qualifications for chemical facility participation
(RMP*, CFATS, and Seveso)
4. Develop web-based questionnaire
5. Contact chemical facilities

8. Research Methodology (con’t)
6. Secure chemical facility participation. Collect and
analyze Emergency Response Plans from each of
the participating sites
7. Site visits and data collection. Administration of
questionnaire to statistically representative
population of mid- to senior-level chemical facility
workers (experts)
a) Create workflows for incident response
b) Identify “actors” during incident response
c) Identify information exchanged between activities
d) Determine tools and technology used during response
e) Determine timing and sequencing of activities during
incident response

9. Research Methodology (con’t)
8. Generation and aggregation of descriptive and
inferential statistical analysis of the questionnaire
results
9. Interpretation of qualitative and quantitative results

10. Study Group
There were 12 facilities that participated in the research

11. Study Group (con’t)
Workforce size of chemical facility
35 experts participated in the study
• Average years of experience: 22.09
• Median for years of experience: 20
• Standard deviation: 6.95

12. Study Group (con’t)
Functions used during incident response

13. Qualitative Results (con’t)
Incident response process for Alpha Facility

14. Use of Information Technology During
Incident Response
Utilization of information technology
for incident response
Use of automation during incident response

15. Best Practice Process Model for Incident
Response

16. Quantitative Results ─ Critical Path
Estimated times vs. calculated
critical path times for each site
Critical path analysis for Eta Facility

17. Quantitative Results (con’t)
Methods for tracking personnel at chemical facilities

18. Quantitative Results (con’t)

19. Quantitative Results (con’t)
Method to determine the chemistry of release

20. Quantitative Results (con’t)
Method to determine quantity of release

21. Quantitative Results (con’t)
Method to determine impact on local community

22. Quantitative Results (con’t)
ERM response times to develop a “go forward” plan

23. Summary of Findings (con’t)
Information flow during incident response

24. Summary of Findings (con’t)
• The size of a chemical facility does influence its
ability to respond to unplanned chemical releases
• The utilization of decision support tools would
improve incident response. The introduction of
repeatable business processes, collection and
reuse of incident data, and information technology
automation would significantly contribute to an
optimal incident response mechanism

25. Summary of Findings (con’t)
• Emergency response managers underestimate the
time required to fully understand the elements of an
unplanned release and develop a mitigation plan
• Decision support tools are not widely used during
incident response to assist in problem resolution
• Chemical facilities do not use an integrated
information technology solution to support incident
response

26. Summary of Findings (con’t)
Recommendations to improve incident response

27. Further Research
• Develop an information model of the information
required during incident response. This model
would be integrated with related ontology efforts in
the emergency response community
• Expand and implement one or more of the incident
response process models at the chemical facilities
that participated in the research project
• Develop an integrated information system that ties
together all of the information elements that have an
impact on incident response
• Develop an evacuation model specific to the
chemical industry. Build on existing evacuation
models