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Trevor Kletz

by Susan J. Ainsworth
February 17, 2014 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 92, Issue 7

Trevor Kletz, 91, a process safety pioneer who transformed the way chemical engineers approach accident prevention, died on Oct. 31, 2013.

Born in Darlington, England, Kletz earned an undergraduate degree in chemistry from the University of Liverpool in 1944.

He then joined ICI, working initially as a research chemist. Later, he managed isooctane, acetone, and tar acids plants for the company. In 1968, he was appointed as one of the process industry’s first technical safety advisers.

Kletz left ICI in 1982 and built a second career as an internationally known process safety consultant, writer, and lecturer. He authored 14 books and more than 100 peer-reviewed papers. His publications on human error and accident analysis shifted industry’s emphasis away from individual lapses to systems failures and design. He retired in 2013.

He was elected a fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers in 1978 and of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1984. He was named to the Order of the British Empire in 1997.

Kletz’s wife, Denise, whom he married in 1959, died in 1980. He is survived by two sons, Tony and Nigel.

Obituary notices of no more than 300 words may be sent to Susan J. Ainsworth at s_ainsworth@acs.org and should include an educational and professional history.

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