Trevor Asher Kletz, OBE, FREng, FRSC, FIChemE (23 October 1922–31 October 2013) was a prolific British author on the topic of chemical engineering safety. He was a central figure in establishing the discipline of process safety.[1] He is credited with introducing the concept of inherent safety and was a major promoter of Hazop.[2] He is listed in The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History.[3]
[edit]Kletz at a chemical engineering safety workshop, Manchester 2010
InICI he worked initially as a research chemist, then became plant manager (in turn) of iso-octane, acetone and tar acids plants. After further experience in process investigation and commissioning in the Technical Department, in 1961 he became assistant works manager on the ICI Olefines Works near Wilton, Redcar and Cleveland. In 1968, he was appointed the first Technical Safety Advisor.[7]
During this time, ICI developed hazard and operability studies, now known as Hazop, for which he was an enthusiastic advocate, and the author of the first book on the subject.[8]
When he retired in 1982, he had established a safety culture within the company based on communication, and had begun a second career and an international reputation as an author and speaker. He quickly started to be regarded as a central figure in the establishment and development of process safety,[1] although he also referred to this discipline as "loss prevention" or "safety and loss prevention" until relatively late in his career.[9][10][11] Most of his books are concerned with case studies from the industry and the human and technical causes. Shortly after his retirement he expanded a paper entitled "What you don't have, can't leak"[12] into the book which began the concept of inherent safety.[13]
He was a visiting Professor of Chemical Engineering at Loughborough University and an adjunct professor of the Texas A&M University Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering.[4]
In 1997 he was awarded the OBE for 'services to industrial safety'.[14]
In 2009 he received the Mond Award for Health and Safety of the Society of Chemical Industry, where he was said to be a 'founding father' of safety in the chemical industry.[15][16]
By Accident… a Life Preventing them in industry (2000) PFV, ISBN0-9538440-0-5;
An Engineer's View of Human Error 3rd ed (2001) IChemE, ISBN0-85295-430-1;
Still Going Wrong: Case Histories of Process Plant Disasters and How They Could Have Been Avoided (2003) Gulf, ISBN0-7506-7709-0
What Went Wrong?: Case Histories of Process Plant Disasters and How They Could Have Been Avoided 5th ed (2009) Butterworth-Heinemann/IChemE ISBN1-85617-531-6;
^ Rubenstein, William D.; Jolles, Michael; Rubenstein, Hilary L. (2011). The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 525. ISBN9781403939104.
^Kletz, Trevor (2001). Learning from Accidents (3rd ed.). Oxford: Gulf Professional Publishing. ISBN0-7506-4883-X.
^Kletz, T.A. (1999). "The Origins and History of Loss Prevention". Transactions of the Institution of Chemical Engineers. 77 Part B (May 1999): 109–116.
^T. Kletz (1978) Chemistry & Industry 6 May 1978 page 278
U. S. Chemical Safety Board Statement from CSB Chairperson Rafael Moure-Eraso on the Passing of Noted Chemical Process Safety Expert Professor Trevor Kletz
