Integrated management of safety and security in Seveso sites - sociotechnical perspectives

Marja Ylönen*, Alessandro Tugnoli, Gabriele Oliva, Jouko Heikkilä, Minna Nissilä, Matteo Iaiani, Valerio Cozzani, Roberto Setola, Giacomo Assenza, Dolf van der Beek, Wouter Steijn, Nadezhda Gotcheva, Ernesto Del Prete

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The call for integrated management of safety and security (IMSS) derives from intensification of digitalisation development and the increased reliance on information communication technologies (ICT) in high-risk industries, such as the chemical and process industry. This development means tightened interconnectedness between industrial automation and control and information technology systems. As a result, the risk landscape is changed towards a stronger interconnectedness of safety, physical and (cyber)security risks, which may lead to major accidents. The objective of this paper is to examine the motivations for IMSS, the current state of IMSS, the cybersecurity-induced risks, including the actualisation of interconnected risks and some sociotechnical tools for IMSS in Seveso plants. They are plants where certain quantities of dangerous substances are present, which are subject to the requirements of the Seveso III Directive (2012/18/EU). The data considered is open source and related to cyber and physical security-induced accidents; interviews with the representatives of Seveso sites and regulators; and literature. The method is qualitative content analysis. The results show that, despite the ongoing development in IMSS at the Seveso sites, IMSS is still in its infancy. Indeed, cybersecurity is often handled in a separate IT department, and the communication with process-safety experts is often inadequate. Furthermore, safety and security risk identification and assessment are essentially undertaken separately. To achieve a real IMSS, we argue that the co-existence of technical and organisational, including structural, functional and cultural development is a fundamental aspect. The combination of such complementary aspects represents the main novelty of this study.

Original languageEnglish
Article number105741
JournalSafety Science
Volume151
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 16 Mar 2022
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

This research has been made possible thanks to the support of the SAF€RA, which is a partnership between 16 research funding organisations from 12 European countries who collaborate on research programming and launch joint calls in the field of industrial safety. More information about this project can be found here: Integrated Management of Safety and Security Synergies in Seveso Plants (SAF€RA 4STER) | SAF€RA (safera.eu) We are grateful for the support of the Finnish Chemicals and Safety Agency (TUKES), the Finnish Working Environment Fund (FWEF), the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work, Italy (INAIL), and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW) in the Netherlands. We are grateful for valuable comments and suggestions from three reviewers. This research has been made possible thanks to the support of the SAF?RA, which is a partnership between 16 research funding organisations from 12 European countries who collaborate on research programming and launch joint calls in the field of industrial safety. More information about this project can be found here: Integrated Management of Safety and Security Synergies in Seveso Plants (SAF?RA 4STER) | SAF?RA (safera.eu), We are grateful for the support of the Finnish Chemicals and Safety Agency (TUKES), the Finnish Working Environment Fund (FWEF), the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work, Italy (INAIL), and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW) in the Netherlands. No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. This research was supported by the Finnish Working Environment Fund (FWEF), the Finnish Chemicals and Safety Agency (TUKES), the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work, Italy (INAIL) and the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW) [Occupational Safety Research Program 2019/2020].

Keywords

  • Cybersecurity
  • Integrated management
  • Safety
  • Security
  • Seveso
  • Sociotechnical

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