The modelling requirements involved with undertaking a QRA are more difficult than most people appreciate, even those working within safety engineering. Hydrocarbon leaks may lead to domino effects and yet these are often neglected in the analysis because of the additional computational burden.
This paper describes a novel process to analyse the risks in a more detailed and structured way than is normally used. It takes account of the consequences of the accident as they exhibit domino effects in which failure of structural elements and other hydrocarbon containing equipment lead to additional inventories contributing to the fire. This has been done in an attempt to calculate risk levels more accurately and in turn provide the industry with a more powerful tool to understand and ultimately manage the risks on an offshore platform.