Although the general level of safety in the process industries is high a class of ＇human error＇ has remained largely unaffected by engineering and regulatory advance in the industry and continues to recur. Experience is lost by industry and reports of industrial incidents are frequently inaccessible. Conventional computer database techniques are often inefficient to deal with this growing mass of data and a novel Active Database System (ADB) has been developed by Loughborough University to address this need. The ADB organises information in a novel manner using a series of loosely linked classification hierarchies, which collectively form a domain description of the chemical industrial workplace. This taxonomy has noted advantages over more traditional organisational structures. It guides both initial indexing and report retrieval. The ADB differs from other systems by being linked with other computer applications already in use by or of use to industry such as computer aided design applications or computerised Permit to Work systems. Although these systems have individual, stand-alone utility, a high degree of synergy exists making the integrated package more useful than the sum of its parts.