Optimizing Safety in the Age of Industry 5.0: Mitigating Domino Effect

Abstract

The advent of Industry 5.0 marks a significant paradigm shift in the industrial landscape, emphasizing the integration of human-centricity, sustainability, and resilience into the technological advancements of Industry 4.0. This thesis investigates the evolution of safety practices within this new industrial framework, introducing the concept of Safety 5.0 as a critical component of the broader Industry 5.0 narrative. This research presents a novel framework for Safety 5.0 that aligns with Industry 5.0’s principles by integrating human-centric design, sustainable practices, and resilience into safety strategies. In parallel, system safety assessment and management are analyzed through a detailed review of relevant publications, institutional and author collaborations, and emerging trends—filling a gap in the existing literature. A key focus of this research is the process industry, which faces significant risks from domino effects—cascading failures that can escalate into catastrophic events. These risks stem from the industry’s need to store, transport, and process hazardous materials in close proximity to optimize operational efficiency and economic gains. To address these challenges, this thesis proposes an improved mathematical model based on Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) to optimize the placement of safety barriers, aimed at halting or delaying the propagation of domino effects in chemical plants. The model offers key insights into the minimum propagation times across various fire paths linked to potential accident scenarios, depending on the positioning of selected safety barriers. Furthermore, the model is not limited to fire-induced domino effects; it is adaptable to a wide range of scenarios in industrial environments where cascading failures pose a significant threat. The model is extended to address domino effects in maintenance and engineering systems, where failures in one component can trigger a series of malfunctions in interconnected systems. Moreover, the model can be applied to abstract cases, such as communication failures, where the disruption of critical information flow could lead to operational downtime or safety risks. In each scenario, the model provides optimized strategies for barrier allocation, ensuring that appropriate safeguards are in place to mitigate a variety of domino effects, whether they stem from physical hazards, system malfunctions, or communication breakdowns. The findings contribute to the development of comprehensive safety management strategies that not only improve resilience to fire but also offer solutions for preventing cascading failures across other critical areas in industrial operations, aligning with the broader goals of Safety 5.0. The results underscore the model’s potential to significantly improve industrial safety by mitigating domino effects, including a detailed analysis of barrier allocation strategies, cardinality impact, and sensitivity to various parameters. The findings offer valuable managerial insights and implications for industrial safety, contributing to the broader goal of enhancing safety in the context of Industry 5.0. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for future research and industrial practices, proposing avenues for further exploration and development in Safety 5.0.

Date of Award	8 Jan 2025
Original language	American English
Supervisor	Andrei Sleptchenko (Supervisor)