Dr. Lianne Lefsrud
Professor and Risk, Innovation, and Sustainability Chair (RISC), Faculty of Engineering, University of Alberta
Risk Management, Risk Communication, High Hazard Industries, Hazards in Mining, Construction, Oil and Gas, Railroading, Hydrogen and Bioengineering, Process Safety, Management Systems, Engineering
Media
TEDx Golden Goose or Ugly Duckling
Recorded at TEDxFortMcMurray (June 8, 2013) Lianne Lefsrud shares her research surrounding how the conversation around the oil sands (or is that tar sands?) has evolved from 1968 to 2011.
Lianne Lefsrud on Alberta's capacity to rapidly transition to renewable energy
A Century of Accomplishments - Dr. Lianne Lefsrud, P.Eng
Say What? University of Alberta prof says we all need to calm down
Canadian Energy CenterOnline
Alberta’s ‘energy war room’: Reframing the energy debate or attempt to mimic legitimate journalism?
Creative sentencing improves workplace safety: Why don’t we use it more?
Sask. court fines SaskPower $840K for deaths of 2 workers
Cultivating green innovation in established organisations and fields
by Georg Reischauer, Claudio Biscaro, Lianne Lefsrud
Published by Industry and Innovation
February 1, 2025
Green innovation (also referred to as eco-innovation, environmental innovation, or sustainable innovation) denotes the organisational creation of new production, technologies, and/or offerings that reduce the negative impact of organisations on the natural environment (eg pollution, waste) and thereby enhance their environmental performance. Green innovation has been indicated as a promising technological pathway to tackle some of the most pressing challenges of our time related to the natural environment. These challenges include climate change and the unequal distribution or supply of natural resources such as freshwater, forests, and healthy soil.
Risk-based approach for safe terminal operation and route planning of on-road hydrogen distribution network
by Anirudha Joshi, Fereshteh Sattari, Lianne Lefsrud, MA Khan
Published by Process Safety and Environmental Protection
February 1, 2025
Hydrogen is a critical energy carrier in the transition to sustainable energy, but its properties such as high diffusivity, wide flammability range, and low ignition energy, present unique safety challenges during transportation. This study aims to improve on-road hydrogen transport safety by developing a dynamic, traffic-dependent risk assessment framework for both Compressed Gaseous Hydrogen (CGH₂) tube trailers and Liquid Hydrogen (LH₂). A key advancement in this study is the use of dynamic occupancy data, capturing variations in traffic density throughout the day, instead of relying on average traffic density to estimate ignition source distribution.
Visualizing what’s missing: Using deep learning and Bow-Tie diagrams to identify and visualize missing leading indicators in industrial construction
by Charuvil Elizabeth, R. M.*, Sattari, F., Lefsrud, L.M, & Gue, B.
Published by Journal of Safety Research
February 1, 2025
In the construction industry, where safety is paramount, the frequency and
severity of workplace incidents remain critical concerns. Therefore, site safety inspections have become essential for health and safety programs. While incident data is frequently used to identify gaps in the safety management system, inspection reports are rarely analyzed to identify unsafe patterns on site and reveal measures for safety enhancement. This limitation can reduce the effectiveness of safety inspections, and therefore, this study aims to identify what safety leading indicators do not capture hazards during inspections.
Biography
Dr. Lianne Lefsrud, PEng, is a Professor and the Risk, Innovation & Sustainability Chair (RISC) at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Alberta, where she leads interdisciplinary research and teaching in risk management. She has analyzed decades of incident data in diverse, high-hazard industries like mining, construction, oil and gas, railroading, hydrogen, and bioengineering. She brings a unique systems-level approach to risk management. She has a PhD in Strategic Management and Organization, MSc in Environmental Engineering and Sociology, and BSc in Civil and Environmental Engineering, and over 25 years’ of experience in operations, regulatory affairs, and strategy advising to governments and senior leaders. Her work has been published in 200+ peer-reviewed journals and proceedings, has a forthcoming book with Oxford, reflected in 100 graduate students supervised, featured in Forbes articles and TEDx, and recognized with 30+ awards from management, engineering and rhetorical scholars; research agencies, and industry associations.