Risk management is the effective way to address safety issues in chemical and petrochemical industries that store, handle, or process toxic or flammable materials in quantities that, if released, could have a major impact on workers, nearby communities, or facilities. These events can have significant life-safety, environmental, legal, regulatory, and financial consequences.

•	Process hazards analysis
•	Mechanical integrity assessment
•	Determination of blast overpressures and structural assessments
•	Failure/accident investigation
•	Offshore platform hazards analysis
•	Consequence modeling
•	Quantitative risk assessment (QRA)

Exponent has extensive experience and capabilities in performing safety and hazards analysis, risk analysis, and environmental impact and consequence analysis for the chemical and petroleum industries. The primary purpose of these analyses is to provide engineers and managers with a quantitative assessment of the risks associated with the design, fabrication, construction, operations, and maintenance of engineered facilities and systems. These analyses help clients identify major risk contributors, quantify their risk impact, and identify and assess the potential value of alternative improvement actions.

Safety and Hazards Analysis Exponent provides safety and hazards analyses for clients such as refineries, chemical plants, and other facilities that handle acutely hazardous materials (AHMs). We perform these analyses in response to client initiatives aimed at improving facility safety and performance while reducing financial liability. In addition, we assist clients in responding to the requirements imposed by regulatory agencies, including the EPA's Risk Management Program (RMP), OSHA's Process Safety Management Program (PSM), California's Risk Management and Prevention Programs (RMPP) and the Oil Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR). Exponent's risk analyses address specific factors at the plant that can lead to AHM releases (e.g., equipment, personnel, procedures), as well as external events such as earthquakes, floods, aircraft crashes, and other natural and man-made hazards.

Risk Analysis Exponent uses our knowledge of transportation hazards and risk analyses to assist clients who are involved in the transportation of hazardous materials. Hazardous materials transportation includes tankers and barges, trucks, railcars, and pipelines, as well as terminals that provide services for hazardous material loading/unloading, intermediate storage, and transfer. The objectives of these analyses are essentially the same as for facility analyses. However, the improvement actions recommended from these analyses may differ depending on whether the transportation system is fixed or mobile. Both internal and external events that can cause AHM releases are included in the analyses.

Environmental Impact and Consequence Analyses Exponent performs environmental impact and consequence analyses for clients to evaluate the movement of hazardous material releases, and their potential impact on the environment. These analyses use the material's dispersion characteristics to determine its expected concentrations at various locations both on-site and outside of the facility. As a result, our analyses provide the basis for determining potential damage to people and the environment. We also identify and assess actions needed to reduce risk, such as reducing volumes, changing locations/routes, improving equipment reliability and maintainability, and improving operations and maintenance procedures.