A review of the past, present and future of the European loss prevention and safety promotion in the process industries

•The EFCE Working Party on Loss Prevention organized its 1st symposium in 1974.•Past year, the 14th symposium has been held in Florence and with much success.•Over the years the field of loss prevention and process safety much widened/deepened.•Due to complexity and cost, human and management aspects became very important.•New approaches and methods are proposed to tackle the new challenges.

In 2013, the European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE) celebrates its 60th anniversary. EFCE has continually promoted scientific collaboration and supported the work of engineers and scientists in thirty European countries. As for its mission statement, EFCE helps European Society to meet its needs through highlighting the role of Chemical Engineering in delivering sustainable processes and products. Within this organizational framework the Loss Prevention Symposium series, organized throughout Europe on behalf of the Loss Prevention Working Party of the EFCE, represents a fruitful tradition covering a time span of forty years. The tri-annual symposium gathers experts and scientists to seek technical improvements and scientific support for a growingly safer industry and quality of life. Following the loss prevention history in this paper, a time perspective on loss prevention and its future is presented.