A systematic review of the integration between occupational and process safety risk analysis methodologies

Abstract

Safety considerations in process industries primarily revolve around process and occupational safety. In recent times, there has been a growing emphasis on the development and application of risk estimation frameworks to provide a more holistic evaluation of these critical risk types. While previous studies have offered valuable insights into the concurrent assessment and management of occupational and process hazards, a comprehensive review of frameworks and models incorporating risk estimation dimensions is lacking. Accordingly, this review aims to systematically examine studies that have devised methods to integrate the estimation of both occupational and process risks, with a focus on categorizing applied criteria for risk estimation. A thorough literature review was conducted using reputable databases, including Web of Science and Scopus, resulting in the identification of 16 studies meeting the predetermined inclusion criteria. Subsequently, the selected studies were classified into four categories: (1) New Framework Developments, (2) Existing Framework Adjustments, (3) Hybrid Frameworks, and (4) Management System/Risk Management Integration. Furthermore, employing a relevant risk dimension perspective, the identified studies were categorized based on four primary dimensions: (a) Scenario Probability, (b) Scenario Consequences, and (c) Economical Damage. It is crucial to note that the existing literature on occupational-process hazards and associated risk dimensions lacks reliable and robust studies. Therefore, further research efforts are imperative to effectively evaluate, quantify, and precisely delineate diverse risk dimensions within the integrated domain of occupational-process safety.