Section 5.1.

12 Lightning and Risk Management by Bill Coffin Originally published in Risk and Insurance Management Society Magazine, Vol. 49, Issue 11, Nov. 1, 2002 Republished here with permission July 10, 1926. Just another day at Picatinny, New Jersey's Lake Denmark Powder D epot until lightning struck within the facility. The bolt detonated adjacent gun powder magazines, killing nineteen people and propelling debris for miles in all directions. By the time the smoke cleared, the damage totaled $70 million (in 2 002 dollars). Thankfully, lightning never strikes twice, right? Wrong, says Richard Kithil, pr esident and CEO of the Louisville, Colorado-based National Lightning Safety Inst itute. For example, in 1994, a lightning strike at the Milford Haven, United Kin gdom Texaco Refinery caused a fire and explosion that destroyed much of the faci lity and caused more than $60 million in damage. "Lightning is a capricious, random and unpredictable event," Kithil says. Althou gh most lightning strikes are not as dramatic as those that hit Picatinny or Mil ford Haven, he says, at any given moment, lightning is striking the earth in ten different places. Each year, the number of lightning-related deaths and injurie s in the U.S. outnumbers those from tornadoes and hurricanes combined. And, ligh tning is to blame for $5 billion to $6 billion in largely insured property damag e. In developing his presentation for the 17th International Lightning Detection Co nference, which was scheduled for last month, Kithil outlined some of the challe nges risk managers face when dealing with one of Mother Nature's most uncertain forces. Damage to property especially for aircraft, large industrial or commercial facilitie s, and the petroleum, explosives manufacturing and defense industries is a grave thr eat. Kithil says the amount of damage lightning does to these targets is growing because more lightning-sensitive equipment (anything containing low-voltage mic roprocessors) is being used. There are two main elements to lightning risk management, Kithil says: detection and prevention. "In almost all cases, detectors play a useful role," he says, c iting the Denver airport as an example. There, detection is an integral part of protecting the fourteen hundred baggage handlers who work outside. The moment li ghtning gets within five miles of the airport, all handlers are brought inside u ntil the danger passes. Additional risk management efforts include the use of co nventional lightning rods and overhead shield wires and mast systems. Downconduc tors direct electrical energy directly to the earth instead of into the structur e. Bonding assures that all unrelated conductive objects on the building are at the same electrical potential by connecting them to the same ground. And groundi ng directs lightning into the earth to prevent it from flashing out horizontally into the structure. So far, no universal lightning risk management code exists. The closest candidat e is the International Electrotechnical Commission IEC 61024, which Kithil says is the "single best reference document for the lightning protection engineer." H e adds that there are a number of different lightning codes that risk managers c an consult. The various arms of the U.S. military have developed numerous lightn ing safety codes, such as MIL HDBK 419A, Navy NAVSEA OP5 MIL STD 188-124B, MIL S TD 1542B, MIL B 5087B, DoD UFC 3-570-01, Army 385-64 and Air Force AFI 32-1064. Other helpful codes include U.S. Department of Energy 2002 DOE 440.1 and British Code BS 6551. Despite best efforts, however, lightning keeps its own agenda and may defeat the detection and protective measures deployed against it. But, Kithil says, a holi stic or systematic hazard mitigation approach can substantially lower the risk.