Lessons learned from safety events

The Hydrogen Incident Reporting and Lessons Learned website (www.h2incidents.org) was launched in 2006 as a database-driven resource for sharing lessons learned from hydrogen-related safety events to raise safety awareness and encourage knowledge-sharing. The development of this database, its first uses and subsequent enhancements have been described at the Second and Third International Conferences on Hydrogen Safety [1] and [2]. Since 2009, continuing work has not only highlighted the value of safety lessons learned, but enhanced how the database provides access to another safety knowledge tool, Hydrogen Safety Best Practices (http://h2bestpractices.org). Collaborations with the International Energy Agency (IEA) Hydrogen Implementing Agreement (HIA) Task 19 – Hydrogen Safety and others have enabled the database to capture safety event learning’s from around the world. This paper updates recent progress, highlights the new “Lessons Learned Corner” as one means for knowledge-sharing and examines the broader potential for collecting, analyzing and using safety event information.

► Technical enhancements to “H2incidents.org” are outlined.
► The lessons learned corner feature that analyzes safety event records is described.
► The value of applying management of change procedures is discussed with examples.
► The importance of properly purging hydrogen piping and equipment is emphasized.