Trevor Asher Kletz (23 October 1922 – 31 October 2013) was a British author on the topic of
chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...
safety. He was a central figure in establishing the discipline of
process safety.
He is credited with introducing the concept of
inherent safety and was a major promoter of
Hazop
A hazard and operability study (HAZOP) is a structured and systematic examination of a complex system, usually a process facility, in order to identify hazards to personnel, equipment or the environment, as well as operability problems that could ...
.
He is listed in The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History.
[ ]
Early life and education
Kletz was born 23 October 1922
in
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...
of Jewish parents, from a Russian immigrant background. He attended
The King's School, Chester, then the
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...
, where he graduated in
chemistry
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...
in 1944 and joined
ICI the same year. During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, he was a member of the
Home Guard
Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense.
The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting ...
. On 28 October 1958 he married Denise V. Winroope
(died 1980) and they had two sons, Anthony and Nigel.[Trevor Kletz (2000) ''By Accident… a Life Preventing them in industry'' PFV, ]
Professional life
In ICI he worked initially as a research chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...
, then became plant manager (in turn) of iso-octane, acetone
Acetone (2-propanone or dimethyl ketone) is an organic compound with the chemical formula, formula . It is the simplest and smallest ketone (). It is a colorless, highly Volatile organic compound, volatile, and flammable liquid with a charact ...
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.
During this time, ICI developed hazard and operability studies, now known as Hazop
A hazard and operability study (HAZOP) is a structured and systematic examination of a complex system, usually a process facility, in order to identify hazards to personnel, equipment or the environment, as well as operability problems that could ...
, for which he was an enthusiastic advocate, and the author of the first book on the subject.
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, although he also referred to this discipline as "loss prevention" or "safety and loss prevention" until relatively late in his career. 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" into the book which began the concept of inherent safety.
Honours
He was a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering
The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering.
The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...
, the Royal Society of Chemistry
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...
, the Institution of Chemical Engineers
The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is a global professional engineering institution with 30,000 members in 114 countries. It was founded in 1922 and awarded a Royal Charter in 1957.
The Institution has offices in Rugby, Warwickshire, ...
, and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He was awarded medals by the latter two institutions.[
He was a visiting Professor of Chemical Engineering at ]Loughborough University
Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...
and an adjunct professor of the Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...
Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering.[
In 1997 he was awarded the OBE for 'services to industrial safety'.]
In 2009 he received the Mond Award for Health and Safety of the Society of Chemical Industry
The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) is a learned society set up in 1881 "to further the application of chemistry and related sciences for the public benefit".
Offices
The society's headquarters is in Belgrave Square, London. There are semi-in ...
, where he was said to be a 'founding father' of safety in the chemical industry.[Society of Chemical Industry News]
A glittering awards night at Belgrave Square[''TCE'' Dec 2009/Jan 2010 p 54 SCI lauds Kletz as "founding father of modern safety"]
Books (sole author)
*''Cheaper, safer plants, or wealth and safety at work: notes on inherently safer and simpler plants'' (1984) IChemE
*''Improving Chemical Engineering Practices: A New Look at Old Myths of the Chemical Industry'' (1989) Taylor & Francis, ;
*''Critical Aspects of Safety and Loss Prevention'' (1990) Butterworths ;
*''Plant Design for Safety – a user-friendly approach'' (1991) Taylor & Francis ;
*''Lessons from Disaster – How Organisations Have No Memory and Accidents Recur'' (1993) IChemE ;
*''Learning from Accidents'' (1994/2001) Butterworth-Heinemann ;
*''Dispelling Chemical Engineering Myths'' (1996) Taylor & Francis, ;
*''Process Plants – a handbook for inherently safer design'' (1998) Taylor & Francis ;
*''What Went Wrong? Case Histories of Process Plant Disasters'' (1998) Gulf, ;
*''Hazop and Hazan'' 4th ed (1999) Taylor & Francis, ;
*''By Accident… a Life Preventing them in industry'' (2000) PFV, ;
*''An Engineer's View of Human Error'' 3rd ed (2001) IChemE, ;
*''Still Going Wrong: Case Histories of Process Plant Disasters and How They Could Have Been Avoided'' (2003) Gulf,
*''What Went Wrong?: Case Histories of Process Plant Disasters and How They Could Have Been Avoided'' 5th ed (2009) Butterworth-Heinemann/IChemE ;
Books (joint author)
*Trevor Kletz, Paul Chung, Eamon Broomfield and Chaim Shen-Orr (1995) ''Computer Control and Human Error '' IChemE, ;
*Trevor Kletz, Paul Amyotte (2010) ''Process Plants: A Handbook for Inherently Safer Design'' 2nd ed, CRC Press ;
References
External links
U. S. Chemical Safety Board
Statement from CSB Chairperson Rafael Moure-Eraso on the Passing of Noted Chemical Process Safety Expert Professor Trevor Kletz
Trevor's Corner
Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center
Oration on the award of an honorary degree 2006
Brief biography and list of publications
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kletz, Trevor
1922 births
2013 deaths
People from Darlington
British Jews
Imperial Chemical Industries people
British chemical engineers
Alumni of the University of Liverpool
People educated at The King's School, Chester
Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering
Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Academics of Loughborough University
British people of Russian-Jewish descent
Fellows of the Institution of Chemical Engineers
Process safety
Safety researchers