Global Journal of Earth and Environmental Science

The analysis of 187 process safety incidents reported globally between 2010 and 2020 offers critical insights into the persistence and complexity of industrial accidents despite advances in technology, regulation, and management systems. Findings indicate that human and organisational shortcomings accounted for approximately 41% of incidents, underscoring the influence of leadership, training, hazard recognition, and organisational culture on safety outcomes. Equipment and asset integrity failures contributed to 35% of incidents, reflecting systemic weaknesses in maintenance and monitoring practices consistent with socio-technical accident models. Sectoral patterns revealed that oil, gas, and petrochemical industries were the most affected, while regional disparities highlighted stronger reporting in high-income countries compared to underreporting in low- and middle-income regions. The consequences of these incidents imposed a triple burden: 65% caused significant financial or asset losses, 32% had direct human impacts, and 22% led to environmental contamination, raising concerns about public health and ecological sustainability. Hazard analysis identified flammability hazards as the dominant cause (66%), with vapour cloud explosions, fires, and boiling liquid expanding vapour explosions (BLEVEs) responsible for the most catastrophic outcomes. Injury data (7,992 cases) showed sharp peaks in 2015 and 2020 linked to severe explosions and fires, while total fatalities (2,290) peaked in 2015 (860 deaths) and 2016 (404 deaths). Although incident frequency declined in later years, the recurrence of similar hazard types reflected inadequate organisational learning and weak emergency preparedness. Overall, the study emphasises that technical safeguards alone cannot prevent catastrophic failures without parallel reforms in organisational culture, governance, and risk-based safety practices. Adoption of holistic frameworks such as Risk-Based Process Safety (RBPS) and High Reliability Organisation (HRO) principles, combined with structured analytical tools like Fault Tree Analysis and Bow-Tie Analysis, is critical to enhancing resilience and preventing recurrence. These findings reinforce the need for industries and regulators to prioritise comprehensive hazard recognition, double-loop learning, and harmonised global reporting systems as integral components of sustainable process safety management.