Methodology for Pressure Equipment Risk Assessment Based on Fracture Mechanics, Human and Organizational Factors

During the last few decades, the need for control of process security has increased, because systems and working conditions are increasingly complex, and existing methodologies did not provide expected results. Therefore, the subject here is the development of the original methodology for risk assessment in working with pressure equipment, based on fracture mechanics and human and organizational impact. Methodology is the result of systematization of existing knowledge, innovation and integration of existing risk assessment, improving work with equipment generally and areas of fracture mechanics, with the main shortcomings that exist in these areas, through establishing and checking new methodologies, methods, and models, with an emphasis on simplicity and adjusting practical application, as well as solving problems of lack of systematic and practical approach to the impact of human and organizational risk factors. To verify a new-subject methodology, a case study in Serbia, Hydropower Plant Bajina Basta was performed, in which the simplicity and precision of the methodology were confirmed. The application of the methodology provides a systematic approach to a pressure assessment in any company that works with such equipment, without reversing the size or field of business, and the proposed methodology can offer valuable conclusions significant for the scientific public, but also the wider community, through improving process security.