Hydrogen Safety: From Policies to Plans to Practices

1. Hydrogen Safety:From Policies to Plans to Practices Steven C. Weiner, Richard Kallman, Antonio Ruiz and Jesse Schneider presented to the International Conference on Hydrogen Safety Pisa, Italy September 9, 2005

2. Hydrogen Safety 2

3. The Context for Safety and the Hydrogen Economy • Hydrogen use has enjoyed a notable safety record. • Introduction of hydrogen as a commercial energy carrier is a “whole new ballgame.” • Safety with hydrogen is as important now if not more so than when the hydrogen economy becomes a reality. • Public trust can be a fragile commodity. • Catastrophic accidents may delay or even preclude hydrogen’s intended implementation. 3

4. Hydrogen Safety Program Goal Develop and implement the practices and procedures that will ensure safety in the operation, handling, and use of hydrogen and hydrogen systems for all DOE projects and to utilize these practices and lessons learned to promote the safe use of hydrogen throughout the emerging hydrogen economy Ref: HFCIT Multi-Year Program Plan, Nov 15, 2004 4

5. Hydrogen Safety Review PanelKey Objectives • Provide expertise and guidance to the DOE and assist with identifying areas of additional research, learnings and best practices. • Integrate safety planning into all DOE project-funding procurements to ensure that all projects address and incorporate hydrogen safety requirements. • Provide input for a handbook of “Best Management Practices for Safety” (2007) 5

6. Hydrogen Safety Review Panel 6

7. An Overview of Panel Initiatives • Project Safety Plans • Guidance for Safety Aspects of Proposed Hydrogen Projects • Provide review and comment • Safety Reviews – Telephone Interviews and Site Visits • Share and discuss learnings and new insights that bear on safety • Address project-specific safety issues • Identify project-specific findings that can have a broader benefit in the DOE program • Project Safety Questionnaires 7

8. Identifying and AnalyzingSafety Vulnerabilities • The right team, the right leader, the right techniques • Documentation with sufficient detail • Time • Pitfalls • Lack of understanding by management of the time commitment needed to produce a successful study • Lack of experience by the team leader • Use of outdated documents • Failure to address all aspects of operation • Failure to consider existing safeguards 8

9. Safety Plan Expectations • Does the plan provide a good sense of how the policies and procedures of the organization are implemented down to the project and staff levels for the specific project? • Does the plan reflect the key areas of sound and thoughtful identification and analysis of safety vulnerabilities, risk mitigation and communications? • Does the plan reflect a desired nature that it be a “living document” and therefore, discuss safety considerations relevant to the course of the project, e.g. management of change, dissemination of learnings, etc.? 9

10. Site Visit TemplateSafety Planning and Q&A • Safety Vulnerabilities • How do you assess the safety risks that are/will be present during the implementation of your project? Do you use established qualitative or quantitative measures or one(s) of your own design? • Risk Mitigation • What approaches and methodologies are used to reduce the identified risks? • Communications • How are safety reviews conducted during the design, development and operating phases of the project? How are safety incidents and near-misses documented and reported and the resulting “lessons learned” shared? 10

11. Observations and Learnings • Equipment Maintenance and Sensor Calibration • Management of Change • Safety Event Reporting 11

12. Safety Event ReportingIncidents and Near-Misses • An incident is an event that results in • a lost-time accident and/or injury to personnel, • damage and/or unplanned downtime for equipment, facilities or property, • impact to the public or environment, • any hydrogen release that unintentionally ignites or is sufficient to sustain a flame if ignited, • any hydrogen release which accumulates above the lower flammability limits within an enclosed space. • A near-miss is an event that under slightly different circumstances could have become an incident. 12

13. Summary • Identification and analysis of safety vulnerabilities, risk mitigation, and communications are critical topics. • A safety plan should be a “living” document. • A safety plan is a tool that should be utilized to make sure overall safety practices are in order and that safety is a priority. 13

14. Hydrogen Safety 14

15. Acknowledging…. • U.S. Department of Energy’s Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure Technologies Program Office • Steven Chalk, Program Manager • Pat Davis, Manager, Safety, Codes and Standards • My co-authors • International Conference on Hydrogen Safety 15