Beckmann rearrangement of cyclohexanone oxime is an important step to produce caprolactam. Many researches have been devoted to it by using new organic catalysts or new reactors such as microreactor to improve the process efficiency. In this paper, the process was assessed by an inherently safer design (ISD) methodology based on risk approach to evaluate the safety effects of new organic catalysts and microreactors. The results show that organocatalyzed Beckmann rearrangement in continuous stirred tank reactors is unacceptable from the view of inherently safer concept due to the large amount of use of organic solvent and the large reactor volume. However, the application of microreactors could significantly increase the safety of both traditional and organocatalyzed Beckmann rearrangement processes with making inventories much smaller. The hazard conflicts that would be transferred to other parts of the process due to the application of microreactors were also evaluated by the Likelihood Index of Hazard Conflicts (LIHCs). The high value of LIHC because of microreactors indicates that some factors need to be paid more attention at the early design stage. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.