It is enough to recall incidents such as that of Flixborough, United Kingdom, in 1974 or that of Brockton, Massachusetts, in 1905 that left hundreds of dead and millionaire economic losses.
The tool to overcome these incidents and prevent future tragedies is already known: to develop integrity and corrosion control programs that allow to prevent and detect failures, correct them and anticipate the useful life of pipelines, boilers, structures, and industrial machinery.
Recently at the Corrosion Congress that took place in Colombia, industrialists and researchers in the sector debated the importance of having corrosion control programs in companies.
One of the guests, Eng. Francisco Marques, from Brazil, told attendees: "If you think it's expensive to invest in prevention, wait for you to experience an accident." The phrase caught my attention and led me to wonder how many companies invest in effective corrosion programs?
The issue goes beyond the answer and is a clear call to the managers of companies responsible for the areas of industrial maintenance and engineers in general, because it is their responsibility that companies have people and technologies available to monitor the state of the structures.
The key is to take advantage of existing technologies and, above all, to give continuity to integrity programs to avoid cost overruns in maintenance and avoid future incidents.
