Comparison of Human Health and Safety Loss Due to Corroded Gas Pipeline Failure in Rural and Urban Areas: A Case Study in Malaysia Norhamimi Mohd Hanafiah 1,a* , Libriati Zardasti 1,b ,Nordin Yahaya 1,c , Norhazilan Md Noor 1,d and Ahmad A. Safuan 1,e 1 Faculty of Civil Engineering, University Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia a* norhamimi2@live.utm.my, b libriati@utm.my, c nordiny@utm.my, d norhazilan@utm.my, ahmadsafuan@utm.my Keywords: Risk assessment; consequences modelling; human health and safety loss Abstract. Consequence assessment is an integral part of the risk assessment process. There are many types of consequences loss due to pipeline failure such as asset loss, environmental loss, production loss, and human health and safety loss (HHSL). This paper studies the comparison of HHSL between rural and urban areas due to pipeline failure subject to corrosion. The damage area of the explosion was calculated using Aloha software by considering the details of the selected sites such as atmospheric and demographics conditions. The HHSL was calculated using a mathematical equation of quantitative risk assessment in terms of the number of fatalities or injuries or both. The results of the assessments from rural and urban areas were then compared with one another to identify any significant dissimilarity. This study shows that there was a possibility to improve the decisive value of risk by implementing the proposed approach in consequence assessment in Malaysia. Introduction Risk assessment is a process used to determine the likelihood and consequences of failure due to a potential threat such as corrosion attack. Risk is the product of the likelihood of failure multiplied by the consequences of the failure. As an integral part of risk assessment, the consequences of a failure have to be determined in detail by considering major losses in order to improve the decisive value of risk [1]. There are many types of consequence loss due to pipeline failure such as asset loss, environmental loss, production loss, and human health and safety loss (HHSL) [1]. Risk assessment should be carried out for a project that possesses a risk of failure due to exposure to a potential hazard, such as a buried steel gas pipeline operation. A buried steel pipeline is one of the most common media used to transport products such as crude oil and gas, and it is exposed to risk from numerous types of threats [2]. These buried pipelines are exposed to several environmental conditions, and they may experience corrosion attack that can lead to a disastrous event [3]. Steel pipeline deterioration due to corrosion attack is well known as a common and serious problem for pipeline operators in Malaysia. Since buried gas pipelines are typically located in populated areas, the consequences of a failure can be catastrophic due to the potential hazard for HHSL. Site Selection. The selection of the sites are based on some parameter contributed to corrosion such as site condition that included soil parameters, site accessibility and safety; pigging data and maintenance records. In general, soil parameters are taken into consideration because it contributes to corrosion activity in the external part of the pipeline. Soil parameters include soil resistivity, soil type, sulphate content, chloride content, moisture content, organic content, clay content, sulphide content and activity of microorganism. Another factor that has been considered in deciding the high corrosive sites area are based on the pigging data where it involved detection of metal loss due to corrosion. The metal loss/corrosion data gathered by the pipelines maintenance personel are used to identify the high consequences area due to corrosion. Both sites had a record of high corrosion activity and has been listed as high consequence areas. In this paper, two sites in Malaysia are selected from the list of high consequence areas due to corrosion to represent a rural and urban area. Both sites are moderately populated to ensure that the results of the analysis are nonbiased because Solid State Phenomena Vol. 227 (2015) pp 221-224 © (2015) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/SSP.227.221 All rights reserved. No part of contents of this paper may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of TTP, www.ttp.net. (ID: 183.171.170.72-16/01/15,12:44:21)