While commonly associated with planned shutdowns and turnarounds, SU/SD operations also encompass routine operational cycles and processes that occur independently of these events. These SU/SD operations produce various risks that need to be carefully managed to ensure the safety, reliability, and efficiency of industrial facilities. 

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has voted to update the status of sixteen recommendations resulting from twelve accident investigations including key safety improvements resulting from the 2006 CAI/Arnel fire and explosion in Danvers, MA and the 2005 BP Texas City refinery fire and explosion.

A massive explosion and fire at the Silver Eagle Refinery on November 4, 2009, in Woods Cross, Utah, which damaged homes in a nearby neighborhood, was caused by a rupture in a pipe that had become dangerously thin from corrosion, according to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB). 

Calumet Montana Refining modified high-voltage electrical equipment to keep the asphalt mill operating, “despite the safety concerns this modification presented to employees," said Jeff Funke, OSHA’s area director in Billings.