Engineering Risk Management: Disaster Analysis of Tianjin Explosion

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Tianjin port explosion through the lens of engineering risk management. It identifies the causes and impacts of the disaster, including the loss of life and property damage, and evaluates the risk management strategies that could have prevented or mitigated the incident. The report highlights key issues such as inadequate storage of hazardous materials, lack of dynamic risk management, a poorly structured framework, and human factors contributing to the disaster. It also outlines the essential steps in the risk management process, including identification, planning, safeguard development, and monitoring, while emphasizing the importance of transparency and continuous improvement in risk management practices. The study concludes that the Tianjin explosion underscores the critical need for robust risk management strategies in industrial settings to prevent similar tragedies, and students can find more solved assignments and study resources on Desklib.

Running head: ENGINEERING RISK MANAGEMENT
Engineering Risk Management
[Name of the Student]
[Name of the University]
[Author note]

2ENGINEERING RISK MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
Analysis of the risk:.........................................................................................................................3
Risk management plan.....................................................................................................................4
Objectives of Risk Management:.....................................................................................................7
Risk Management Process:..............................................................................................................9
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................9
References:....................................................................................................................................11

3ENGINEERING RISK MANAGEMENT
Introduction:
Risk is generally defined as the occurrence of any kind of uncertain event during a certain
process which are generally considered to be very harmful for a project. This is initially
responsible for having an adverse effect upon the people who are associated with the project. It is
very much essential to mitigate all this type of risks for the purpose of having a successful
project (McNeil, Frey & Embrechts, 2015). Risk management generally refers to the process of
identifying, analyzing and mitigating the different kind of uncertainty in a project. In this report
we would be discussing about the Tianjin port explosion and the risk management associated
with it.
Analysis of the risk:
After the explosion it was seen that almost 173 peoples died which was
measured almost after a month. The number of deaths that has occurred is
considered to be highest number of death which was caused due to
industrial explosion. There was an increase in the intensity of the fire due to
the fatal combination of the chemicals and the water that acted as one of the
catalyst. The intensity of the first earthquake was recorded which was having
a magnitude of 2.3 and this was responsible for the shaking the seismic
plates which was having an energy almost equal to 2.9 Tons of TNT
(Stockton et al., 2018). Whereas during the second earthquake the intensity
was recorded and it was having a magnitude of 2.9 which was responsible
for shaking the seismic plates with an intensity of around 21.9 Tons. There
occurred a series of 8 explosions consecutively due to the spreading of the

4ENGINEERING RISK MANAGEMENT
fire and this was initially responsible for the loss of many lives and property
as well. The effects of the explosion was immense in nature. Besides this
there were also other kind of damages as well.
Both of this explosion were responsible for harming the employees and this
explosions occurred in a time span of 30 seconds. The second explosion was
much larger than the first one.
Risk management plan
Description of
the Risk
Impact of
the risk
Reason for
occurrence
of the risk
Crucial
factors
Triggers Risk Response
Strategy
Contingency
Plan
Tianjin Port
in China
faced an
explosion
which was
considered to
be one of the
tragic
incident
which
occurred due
to the
This
explosion
that
occurred in
the Tianjin
Port almost
took
around 173
lives which
was
measured
after a
During the
occurrence
of the 2nd
explosion
almost 800
tons of
Ammoniu
m Nitrate
was
detonated
(abc.net.
au,
The staffs
were not at
all aware
of the
ways of
storing the
harmful
substances
and also
the
improper
packaging
of products
and lack of
Prevention
of the fire
was
possible by
the process
of applying
some other
noncombus
tible
elements on
the fire
rather than
the water.
The
Certain
risk
mitigation
strategies
are to be
implemen
ted in
order to
reduce the
risk faced
by the
Tianjin
port. This
is to be
Contingency
plan would
be associated
with ensuring
the fact that
there does
not occur any
such similar
events in the
future.
Stopping of
this type of
incident is
possible by

5ENGINEERING RISK MANAGEMENT
mismanagem
ent inside the
industry. In
the year of
2015 on 12th
August this
incident took
place and
was
responsible
for taking of
lives of many
people and
employees
who were on
their duties
in Tianjin
port at that
time
(bbc.com,
2018). Along
with causing
a huge effect
month
occurrence
of the
event. The
number of
deaths that
took place
is
considered
to be the
highest
number of
deaths
which
occurred
during an
industrial
explosion.
Along with
this almost
8000 cars
were
burned and
2018). It
has been
reported
that the
fire was
only at the
warehouse
in
beginning.
The fire
that
breakout
was
having an
uncontroll
able nature
and the
Fire
fighters
were who
were
present at
that spot
knowledge
regarding
inflammab
le and
exploding
elements
caused the
explosion
(Lam,
Lun &
Bell,
2018).
application
of the water
of the
chemical
infrastructu
re triggered
the
explosion
(faceboo
k.com,
2018).
done by
proper
monitorin
g of the
risks
which are
faced by
the
Tianjin
port.
Proper
planning
is also
needed
before the
initiation
of any
kind or
risk
managem
ent
strategy.
Which
would be
followed
by proper
the
implementin
g plans like
usage of air
bags in
ammonium
nitrate
storage
places and
many more.
Analyzing
the situation
would also
be very
helpful for
the purpose
of
understandin
g problem
which would
be helping a
lot in making
of plans.

6ENGINEERING RISK MANAGEMENT
on the
property
damaged
300
buildings
nearby the
port.
Besides
this more
than 12000
cars
damaged
physically
(Glendon,
Clarke &
McKenna,
2016).
were
fighting
the fire so
as to
prevent the
spreading
of fire.
Along
with this
the Fire
fighters
were also
not aware
of the fact
that the
explosion
was
caused due
to the
burning of
the
hazardous
chemical
monitorin
g of the
strategies.

7ENGINEERING RISK MANAGEMENT
substances
and they
applied
water
which
initially
increased
intensity
of the fire
which
increase
the effect
of
explosion
(Zhang et
al., 2017).
Objectives of Risk Management:
Various kind of risk management techniques have been undertaken by the organization in order
to eliminate any kind of losses which might occur during the scheduling of the project. This risk
management technique can be considered to be the major step which would be taken by the

8ENGINEERING RISK MANAGEMENT
organization for the purpose of maintaining efficiency. Some of the risk management principles
have been listed below:
Issues related to Storage: One of the most important and major reason lying behind the failure
of the disaster management in the Tianjin port is the storage. The explosion was caused due to
the excess fire in the Ammonium nitrate. Along with this the knowledge regarding the
ammonium nitrate usage and the storage was also lacking. The distribution of proper knowledge
was also not done in a proper way. The distribution of the knowledge to the employees was also
not done in a proper way who were in charge of storing it. Besides this the employees who were
in charge were also not aware of the fact that Ammonium Nitrate is a steady explosive
(youtube.com, 2018). Ammonium Nitrate also turned into an explosive due to the mixing of
the other chemicals with it. So when the fire was set out it initially reached Ammonium Nitrate
and it acted as the explosive. There was almost around 800 tons of Ammonium Nitrate which is
huge in amount and this increased the intensity of the explosion.
Dynamic Risk Management: Risk is generally considered to be a phenomenon which is totally
uncertain and this is initially leading to the fact that there is a need of defining the uncertainties
of the risk management strategy in a proper way which might arise during the completion of the
project. The dynamicity of the risk management for the case of Tianjin port explosion was
limited and this initially resuyulted in the fatal explosion (Zhou, Fu & Xue, 2017).
Structured Framework: The risk management principle should be structured along with the
processing of the risk management strategies is also to be done by taking help from the proper
maintenance of the framework. The risk management strategy of the Tianjin port was not up to
mark and this initially lead to the non-performance of the risk management with least efficiency.

9ENGINEERING RISK MANAGEMENT
Human Factors: It is essential for the risk management techniques to consider the different type
of risks that might be arising due to different kind of human factors during the process of
completion of the project (news.com.au, 2018). Besides this it is very essential to consider
the flaws that might be occurring due to the human flaws before the project plan is initiated.
Tianjin port did not even thought of fact that their employee could commit any type of mistake
during the process of storing the Ammonium Nitrate.
Transparency: This is generally considered to be an important section of the risk management
strategy. It is necessary to make sure that the risk management strategies are having a transparent
nature. In case of Tianjin port explosion transparency was totally absent and this is mainly due
to the fact that the employees were not at all aware of the process of storing the explosives.
Risk Management Process:
The risk management process is performed by following certain steps which includes the
identification, classification and the prioritization of the risks.
Identification: This is the first and the foremost step of the risk management strategy. In this
process the risks that are involved in the Tianjin port are identified.
Planning: This the second step of the risk management process and in this process the planning
regarding the process of mitigating the risks are made after the identification of the risks are
completed (Huang & Zhang, 2015).
Developing of the safeguard process: Once the planning process is
completed certain steps are developed which are to be implemented in order
to eliminate the risks that have been identified previously.

10ENGINEERING RISK MANAGEMENT
Monitoring: Once the steps have been implemented that has been
developed in order to eliminate the risks are monitored so as to make sure
that all the implemented processes are working properly. Besides this the
efficiency of the processes are also to be monitored (Deng et al., 2016).
Conclusion:
The above report helps in concluding to the fact that the explosion which
occurred in the Tianjin Port of China is one of the biggest explosion of the era which took
away many lives and caused huge loss of property. All this occurred due to lack of management
and proper knowledge about the harmful chemical which was the main reason for the explosion.
All this could have been avoided if there existed certain strategies and proper management in
order to control any kind of mis-happenings. Proper risk management strategies are to be
adopted which would be helping the elimination of any type of similar risks in the future.

11ENGINEERING RISK MANAGEMENT
References:
abc.net.au. (2018). Explosions death toll rises in China as safety fears
revealed. Retrieved from
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-13/tianjin-explosion-44-killed-
safety-officials-met-week-earlier/6696260
bbc.com. (2018). Massive blasts hit north China city. Retrieved from
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-33896292
Deng, Q., Liu, Y., Li, L., Deng, X., & Zhang, H. (2016, October). Emergency online attention
and psychological distance under risk. In Proceedings of the Second ACM
SIGSPATIALInternational Workshop on the Use of GIS in Emergency Management (p.
3). ACM.
facebook.com. (2018). Ebaum's World. Retrieved from
https://www.facebook.com/ebaumsworld/videos/10153155166912424/
Glendon, A. I., Clarke, S., & McKenna, E. (2016). Human safety and risk management. Crc
Press.
Huang, P., & Zhang, J. (2015). Facts related to August 12, 2015 explosion accident in T ianjin, C
hina. Process Safety Progress, 34(4), 313-314.
Lam, J. S. L., Lun, Y. V., & Bell, M. G. (2018). Risk management in port and maritime logistics.
McNeil, A. J., Frey, R., & Embrechts, P. (2015). Quantitative Risk Management: Concepts,
Techniques and Tools-revised edition. Princeton university press.

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news.com.au. (2018). Massive warehouse explosion rocks Tianjin, China.
Retrieved from http://www.news.com.au/world/asia/massive-
warehouse-explosion-rocks-tianjinchina/story-fnh81fz8-
1227481251099
Stockton, N., Stockton, N., Skibba, R., Sokol, J., Niiler, E., & Allain, R. et al.
(2018). What China's Huge Tianjin Explosion Looked Like From Space.
Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/2015/08/chinas-huge-tianjin-
explosion-looked-like-space/
youtube.com. (2018). 2015 TIANJIN PORT CHINA HUGE EXPLOSION, HD Every
Angle Synced. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=dgurTdK0PTA
Zhang, H., Duan, H., Zuo, J., Song, M., Zhang, Y., Yang, B., & Niu, Y. (2017). Characterization
of post-disaster environmental management for Hazardous Materials Incidents: Lessons
learnt from the Tianjin warehouse explosion, China. Journal of environmental
management, 199, 21-30.
Zhou, L., Fu, G., & Xue, Y. (2017). Human and organizational factors in Chinese hazardous
chemical accidents: a case study of the ‘8.12’Tianjin Port fire and explosion using the
HFACS-HC. International journal of occupational safety and ergonomics, 1-12.