Borealis processes large quantities of flammable and/or toxic materials under high pressure and temperatures, which, if not handled properly, could lead to process safety incidents. In a worst-case scenario, leaks, fires or explosions could cause fatalities, both inside and outside Borealis, as well as major environmental impacts. In addition, this could lead to disruption of supply to customers and financial costs. It is therefore of the utmost importance for Borealis to invest in process safety and to properly design, maintain and operate its plants.
The Seveso Directive is the main EU regulation dealing with the control of onshore major accident hazards involving dangerous substances. In line with this directive, Borealis works closely with national authorities and emergency organisations to ensure the safe operation of its plants and maintain a high level of preparedness in case of incidents. The Group also actively supports industry-wide efforts to enhance process safety, as a member of the European Process Safety Centre.
To reach Borealis’ objective of achieving zero accidents, the Group put in place the Goal Zero programme. The programme covers both occupational health and safety and process safety, and is a key deliverable of the Group’s Sustainability Strategy. As Borealis employees are encouraged to see Goal Zero as a journey to be taken together, the programme helps establish a collective health and safety mindset.
The Group Process Safety department has developed a process safety management system that enhances risk identification and mitigation. The Group policies that are relevant to Process Safety are the Risk Management Policy and the Responsible Care® Policy. The Risk Management Policy defines Borealis’ risk management framework by providing principles, roles and responsibilities, and guidelines for risk assessment, mitigation and reporting. The policy aims to ensure the implementation of sound risk management practices at all levels across the Group. The Responsible Care Policy statement sets out the guiding principles for the Group-wide implementation of Responsible Care at Borealis.
The Executive Vice President (EVP) Base Chemicals and Operations chairs the Group-level Process Safety Committee. The Committee’s members are directors and departmental leaders from all of the relevant operational streams: Group Health, Safety, Environment & Quality, Manufacturing Excellence, Operations Polyolefins and Operations Hydrocarbons and Project & Expert Support. Each production location also has its own health, safety and environment (HSE) Assurance Team, chaired by a nominee appointed by local management. Its members come from different areas within the location, to ensure cross-learning and a link to Group developments.
The Process Safety Committee (for PO and HC) and HSE Assurance Teams meet regularly to oversee Borealis’ process safety performance and programme, steer the Group’s process safety Goal Zero roadmap, review progress and provide guidance on priorities, key activities and performance measures. Priorities are identified based on reoccurring or severe incidents, leading to a programme being launched by multifunctional teams to improve performance. These teams determine best practice and roll it out in the locations, with support and supervision from Group Process Safety. Group Process Safety also takes an active role in resolving challenges for Borealis’ growth projects, by providing its expertise in an early stage study.
Borealis’ joint venture Borouge has its own process safety network and Borealis shares best practice in three areas: learning from incidents across borders, defining the minimum process safety design requirements for new plants and setting minimum competence levels and education programmes related to process safety. Borealis’ Process Safety chief engineer is leading Pre-Start Up Safety Reviews for new projects and large turnarounds in the Group’s joint ventures.
The Group is an active member of the European Process Safety Centre, sharing lessons from incidents and supporting process safety developments. The Group also takes part in a number of forums related to process safety, such as the High Pressure Safety Conference, Fertilizers Europe, the European Ethylene Producers Conference and the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) Plant & Process Safety Network. In addition, the Group exchanges information with other companies to assess the best technical solutions for preventing and mitigating the escalation of major scenarios.
Borealis undertook a wide range of activities during 2021, which were designed to further improve its process safety. In particular, the Group:
Borealis Blue Audits are an internal audit of a location’s HSE systems and requirements. These were conducted in Taylorsville (North Carolina), Rockport (New Jersey), Beringen (Belgium), Grand Quevilly (France) and the Linz catalyst plant and Innotech in Austria. Four audits were also done on internal and external Hydrocarbons logistics installations.
Borealis’ insurance brokers conducted four follow-up surveys during the year. Due to COVID-19, no major surveys were conducted. All of these audits reassured the Group’s insurance brokers that the Group has a well-managed process to prevent and limit the impact of incidents.
Based on lessons from the fire in 2020 at the Stenungsund cracker, Borealis rolled out a risk reduction programme, including elements such as Process Safety competence, enhancing the project hazard review process and initiating actions to reduce the risk landscape of the location, as well as rolling out a Group-wide assessment of the protection layers for large machines.
Borealis uses a Loss of Primary Containment Pyramid tool to support the monitoring of incidents, ensure they are investigated and that actions are completed in time to prevent reoccurrence.
The pyramid includes the performance of the safety-critical processes designed to prevent accidents. This performance is measured using indicators such as the status of safety critical inspections, the testing of critical interlocks and the closure of actions. The leading indicators are followed up annually through a “deep dive” into overall performance and review by the Process Safety Committee. As well as using its own process safety incident rating tool, Borealis also tracks process safety incidents according to CEFIC standards.
High-severity accidents would include, for example, a large fire or explosion resulting in injuries or fatalities, and significant business loss and impact on the environment.
Medium-severity accidents are those resulting in a loss of containment, with medium consequences for people, planet and profit. A medium-severity accident would normally result in limited possible injuries, easy-to-repair damage and a controllable environmental impact.
Low-severity accidents are those where substances are released but which result in a very low to zero impact.
In 2021, the Group’s target was to have a maximum of 21 Tier 1 + Tier 2 accidents. In 2021, 9 Tier 1 accidents were reported. 7 Tier 2 accidents and 774 low-severity Tier 3 process safety accidents were reported, along with 806 process safety near misses, of which 4 were process safety-related with high potential. As general process safety awareness increases due to Borealis’ educational initiatives and campaigns, more low-severity accidents are being reported. The process safety response rate measures the number of actions closed against the number due to be closed on a 12-month rolling basis. Including all actions of 2021, the response rate for December was 91.7% (2020: 92.7%). A total of 1,565 actions were implemented in response to high-, medium- and low-severity accidents. In September 2021, a major incident occurred at the Borealis cracker plant in Stenungsund. An operator identified a leak from a furnace thermocouple during a field check round. The furnace was taken out of service but the leak caught fire and the cracker was immediately shut down. No one was injured.
1) Definitions have been adjusted in 2021 to be aligned with OMV definitions. A comparison to previous years is therefore not possible.
Response rate of process safety incidents: Process safety incidents of a certain severity or risk potential are recorded and investigated through root cause analysis. Corrective actions are defined to prevent re-occurrence. The response rate of process safety incidents is measured as the ratio (%) of corrective actions completed within a defined time period.
High-severity accidents: are Tier 1 accidents according to API RP754.
Medium-severity accidents: are Tier 2 accidents according to API RP754.
During 2022, Group Process Safety will focus on the following areas:
The Group will also conduct internal health checks on Process Safety-related elements and a Process Safety review in the Borealis Blue Audit.
