Trevor Kletz, one of the great Human Factors Experts

Trevor Kletz (1922 – 2013) (from Institute of Energy)

Renowned safety expert Trevor Kletz passed away on 31 October 2013, aged 91.

Trevor Kletz was one of industry’s most respected figures following a celebrated career as an industry safety advisor, lecturer and writer.

Trevor worked for ICI between 1944 and 1982. In 1968 he was appointed as one of the process industry’s first technical safety advisors, advising designers and operators about how to avoid hazardous process plant accidents. During this time ICI developed Hazard and Operability Studies (HAZOP), which Trevor was an enthusiastic advocate of, and he authored the first book on the subject, Hazop and Hazan.

Trevor built a second career as a process safety consultant, writer and lecturer after leaving ICI. He was elected a Fellow of IChemE in 1978, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1984 and awarded an OBE for services to process safety in 1997. Trevor authored 14 books and more than 100 peer-reviewed papers on process safety, including:

Lessons from disaster – How organisations have no memory and accidents recur

What went wrong?: Case histories of process plant disasters and how they could have been avoided

An engineer’s view of human error

Trevor remained active professionally until earlier this year where a formal retirement reception was staged at IChemE’s Hazards 23 conference in Southport, UK.

HSE Chair Judith Hackitt said “Trevor’s impact on industry was striking. His ability to convey safety information succinctly, and effectively, was central to his success.”

As a process safety pioneer, Trevor Kletz undoubtedly saved lives, and inspired others to do the same.