Human Factor: A Key Element in A Fire Safety System Of Hydrocarbon Storage Tank

Risk analysis and assessment are extremely important in the oil sector to prevent potential risks. The objective of this work is to propose a thorough risk analysis approach with the integration of the human factor, since he is considered as a weak point of the system and a performance and safety limiter. This study is based on a combination of three tools: SADT, BORA method and ALOHA software. Each of these tools has a function in the proposed approach. Thus, SADT breaks down the studied system and determines the contribution of each component. The functions of the barriers, the success and fault scenarios and the causes of an initial event have been defined by BORA, so the consequences of safety system fault have been studied by ALOHA software. The safety system of the crude oil tank (S106) at the Skikda storage terminal in Algeria was considered as a case study. Based on the results of this research, it was determined that the function fault of a barrier in this system can produce a dangerous situation where humans can be a major cause of these faults since they contribute most of the functions of this system. The originality of this in-depth analysis is the identification of the weak points of a hydrocarbon storage tank's safety system with the integration of the human being where his role and the consequences of their error are determined.