A Century of Process Safety: Preventing Accidents through Experienced Based Learning

On December 3, 1984, water contamination of a tank of methyl isocyanate in Bhopal, India initiated a series of events that led to a catastrophic toxic release, killing more than 3,000 residents and injuring over 100,000. Immediately after, leaders from the chemical industry asked AIChE to lead a collaborative effort to eliminate catastrophic process incidents by advancing state of the art technology and management practices, serving as the premier resource for information on process safety, supporting process safety in engineering, and promoting process safety as a key industry value. In the spring of 1985, CCPS was founded. This paper will reflect on the history of CCPS, highlight some recent accomplishments, and present a glimpse at the future of process safety.