Ultimate process plant safety is both most vulnerable and most easily attainable at the design stage. Asked bluntly: “Do you want a safe plant or a dangerous one?” nobody would choose danger but the question is rarely put as simply as that. Considerations of cost cloud the basic issues. Yet, assuming the capability and integrity of the contractor's design team, project capital cost is usually directly proportional to the quality of equipment, the extent of equipment and the input of specialised technology, all of which contribute to plant safety. As always, you tend to get what you pay for, so perhaps the opening question should really be: “Do you want a safe plant or a cheap one?”