What approach to inherently safer design helps minimize the potential consequences of fire?

The selected approach, which is to minimize the potential consequences of fire, is centered around reducing the risk associated with hazardous materials and processes in a facility. This strategy involves designing systems and processes that limit the amount of combustible materials present, ensuring that the impact of a fire can remain within acceptable limits.

By minimizing the potential consequences, designers take proactive steps to ensure that in the event of a fire, the effects on people, property, and the environment are contained and controlled. This can involve the reduction of fuel sources, implementing safer operating conditions, and designing with materials that have lower flammability.

Each of the other approaches also plays a role in inherently safer design, but they do not directly focus solely on minimizing consequences. Substitution involves replacing hazardous materials with less hazardous ones, which is effective in reducing risks but does not specifically target the aftermath of a fire event. Containment focuses on preventing the spread of fire and controlling its effects but does not address the actual minimization of the impact. Isolation is aimed at keeping hazardous processes or materials separate to reduce risk, but it may not effectively minimize the consequences if a fire occurs. Thus, minimizing is the correct focus when addressing the consequences of a fire incident.