Safety of equipment destined for the chemical and power generation industries is still mandatory, Structural changes in the equipment manufacturing industry and the current switchover to European and international standards harbour potential dangers which can ultimately manifest themselves in plant safety. Items of equipment used in process engineering are generally not mass produced articles with a generally valid safety standard. In contrast, they are subjected to specified loads and in this respect each one to be regarded as one of a kind, Strength testing is a mandatory requirement. This article considers a number of general points demanding attention in design work and future trends affecting design practice, The gap between research and everyday practice has to be bridged by applications-orientated presentation of results. The paper presents a number of illustrative examples.