QRA with Safeti for AkzoNobel

Sustainable solutions with Safeti

AkzoNobel uses Safeti across the world

AkzoNobel, the largest global producer of paints and coatings and a major producer of specialty chemicals, uses DNV's Safeti software for quantitative risk assessment at 10 sites across the world.

With 55,000 employees, AkzoNobel – headquartered in the Netherlands – is the largest company that produces paints and coatings, and a major producer of specialty chemicals. AkzoNobel has locations in more than 80 countries worldwide. Delivering sustainable solutions to customers is at the top of their agenda.

AkzoNobel is a longtime user of Safeti software for quantitative risk assessment (QRAs). In addition, the software is used to calculate effect areas in case of accidental release and also for safe siting studies for the manufacturing sites. Amongst these, there are sites with a number of plants at the site, working for different business areas.

“The AkzoNobel policy regarding risk management is to ensure that business activities are conducted in such a way that a safe environment is created for our customers, for our employees, for our contractors and for the environment,” says Herman van Lochem, Senior Advisor People and Process Safety at AkzoNobel HSE Business Support.

Mr van Lochem has been with AkzoNobel for more than 40 years, and has been using Safeti since 1999. Currently he is the person at AkzoNobel who has longest experience with Safeti, using it for QRAs, for safe siting studies, for calculation of effect areas and for analyses of safe location for relief valve positioning.

Mr van Lochem’s responsibilities at AkzoNobel are at the corporate level. The HSE business support team is supporting the development and maintenance of the process safety management framework.

“The main strengths of Safeti software are that it is efficiently organized, it is supported by GIS application for easy import of geographic data and there is a solid substance database underlying the program for easy access of substance properties. Safeti is also provided with a large supply of graphic and text tools for easy interpretation of the results,” says van Lochem.

“Safeti can visualize the risks that are posed by the process plants and indicate where the opportunities for improvement lie,” he says.

There has always been a good dialogue between his team and the DNV's software support staff. “At AkzoNobel we are very positive about the DNV support,” he says. “We get very prompt responses, and for more complicated questions there is always a line of second service available.”

From DOS to Windows-based

Having used the software since the early days, he remembers when the program was entirely DOS-based, and input lines needed every letter and comma in the right place.

“Now it’s Windows-based and user-friendly. It’s an essential tool for demonstrating how sites are performing related to safety – for making it visible and quantifying it,” says Mr van Lochem. In total there are six engineers at Akzo-Nobel who currently use Safeti in their work. New engineers are quickly up to speed using the software.

“We expect from new engineers that they first go to an introduction training of DNV, and once they have done that it is very easy to start working with Safeti, at first with simple cases and then internally we build it up. They enter a path where they are coached by more experienced engineers to work with more complex models,” says Mr van Lochem.