TSA Insight Magazine Issue 26 - Magazine - Page 34
A practical framework for climate
adaptation
One of the challenges facing operators
is knowing where to begin.
Many organisations have undertaken
climate risk assessments, but fewer
have translated those assessments
into
practical engineering
and
operational improvements.
The emerging CDOIF guidance
provides a logical route through
this process by integrating climate
adaptation into existing COMAH
management systems rather than
creating a separate workstream.
Instead of asking operators to
reinvent their management systems,
the framework builds on familiar
principles of hazard identification, risk
assessment, ALARP demonstration
and continual improvement.
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The process can be simplified into
five practical stages (see ‘The Five-Step
Climate Adaptation Framework’ below).
Step 1 – Understanding where your
site is vulnerable
Every tank storage terminal has
a unique combination of hazards,
infrastructure
and
surrounding
environmental conditions.
The first stage is identifying how
changing climate conditions could
affect the site’s ability to prevent or
mitigate a major accident.
For many operators this means looking
beyond obvious flood risk.
Questions include:
•
Could higher temperatures
affect stored products or cooling
systems?
•
Could prolonged drought reduce
I N S I G H T
M AG A Z I N E
•
•
•
available firewater?
Could increasing storm
intensity damage pipe bridges,
loading gantries or electrical
infrastructure?
Could flooding restrict
emergency access routes?
Could simultaneous failures
disable multiple safety systems?
Equally important is understanding
how risks will change over the lifetime
of the asset.
Infrastructure expected to remain
operational until 2050 or beyond
may experience climatic conditions
significantly different from those
considered during original design.
This represents a shift from assessing
historical weather events to assessing
future operating environments.
