TOWARD SUSTAINABLE AND DIGITAL PROCESS SAFETY: A SYSTEMATIC THEMATIC REVIEW WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22206665Keywords:
Process Safety, Sustainability, Digital Transformation, Occupational Health and Safety, Human FactorsAbstract
Hazardous chemicals, high-temperature and high-pressure operating conditions, and explosive properties in process industries have caused major accidents such as Bhopal (1984), Texas City (2005), and Tianjin (2015), resulting in serious environmental, social, and economic losses. Process safety aims to manage these risks holistically, while sustainability and digital transformation provide opportunities to strengthen existing safety management systems. This study examines the academic literature on process safety, sustainability, and digital transformation from a systematic thematic perspective, identifies current trends, gaps, and opportunities, and contributes to the development of sustainable and digitally enabled process safety. Following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, 38 articles published between 2019 and 2025 and indexed in the Web of Science database were reviewed. Nine thematic categories were identified: process safety, process safety management, sustainability, Sustainable Development Goals, model proposals, advanced technologies, accident investigation, human factors, education and competence, and assessment methodologies. The analysis identified 10 gaps and opportunities and led to the proposal of the PS-Twin Change conceptual framework. The framework comprises a process safety management foundation and two intersecting transformation dimensions: sustainability integration and digital transformation. The findings also demonstrate that human factors, employee competence, safety culture, training, and operator protection connect process safety with occupational safety and social sustainability. The study provides a holistic and strategic perspective on sustainable and digital process safety for policymakers, researchers, occupational safety professionals, and industry stakeholders.
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