Domino effect accident

However, if the process is triggered by intentional attacks or natural disasters, multi-primary events may apply.

[5] For example, an earthquake may lead to multiple equipment failures in a process plant, which can in turn cause further accidents.

[11] According to whether the primary event is deliberate or not, domino effect accidents can be divided into unintentional and intentional.

[16] In a chemical cluster or a process plant industrial park, there are multiple hazardous materials sites located next to each other.

[17] Preventing external domino effect accidents is especially complex, as these require managing the hazard across multiple companies.

Encouraging the cooperation between different neighboring companies within a cluster of sites is essential for the management of domino effect hazards.

The engineered and administrative safety barriers used in this context can be active, passive, or procedural and emergency measures.

They can be used to suppress fire, such as water/foam deluge, and isolate process units, such as emergency shutdown (ESD) systems.

Fireproofing is a commonly-used passive protection measure used to insulate pressure vessels from heat radiation induced by external fire.

Emergency response procedures in process plants play an important role in protecting employees, installations, and other civilians nearby.

The aftermath of a domino effect on storage tanks, 2009 Cataño oil refinery fire
Fire raging at Cataño refinery