hazard investigation Articles
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The Volatile Issue of Reactive Chemicals
Regulation of “reactive” chemicals -- chemicals that become unstable under certain conditions -- has been the subject of debate for years. Underlying the debate, and perhaps fueling it, is the fact that reactive chemicals are involved in many accidents. According to the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board’s (CSB’s) 2002 report addressing reactive chemicals, entitled “Hazard ...
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Washington Watch -- The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board: Thinking Strategically in Investigating (and Preventing) Chemical Accidents
(From the Winter 2006 issue of Environmental Quality Management) Chemical accidents are always unwanted, and almost always the subject of considerable media attention and public scrutiny. Investigating the causes of chemical accidents is not an easy task, nor is the job of communicating the results of such investigations. Given the significant importance of the mission and day-to-day work of ...
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Integrating port and regional risk management strategies
In March, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released Port Risk Management (GAO-07-412), which provided a series of findings on the challenges our nation’s port and maritime communities are experiencing with respect to all-hazards planning. The investigators of this report outlined “interagency coordination” as one of several challenges requiring remedy. Historically, the Department ...
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The essentiality of process-safety management
Untitled Document Loss of Life in the workplace is a tragedy of enormous proportion. One of the tools the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) uses to eliminate workplace disasters is the Process Safety Management (PSM) standard issued in 1992. Questions have arisen about whether the standard is sufficient and whether it should be amended. The Chemical ...
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Governance of inherently dangerous territories: strategies of adaptation and perspectives of evolution
Management of inherently dangerous territories (IDT) represents a major issue for our society which should be prepared to cope with inherent risks. The problem that underlies our thoughts is to know how to manage in a sustainable way, the inherent dangerousness of a territory. The original concept of IDT questions classic probability approaches of the risk. It considers risk as a territory's ...
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Chemicals get a bad reaction in Washington
Regulation of reactive chemicals has been debated for years. According to the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board’s (CSB) 2002 report, there have been 167 serious reactive chemical accidents during the past two decades, and 108 people were killed in 48 of the incidents. Despite the debate, neither legislative nor regulatory action is expected any time soon. The Occupational Safety and ...
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The Volatile Debate Over Regulation of Reactive Chemicals
Untitled Document The regulation of chemicals believed to be “reactive” has been hotly debated for many years. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) “(c)hemical reactivity presents serious, sometimes catastrophic hazards to workers when the hazard is not thoroughly understood and controlled.” The U.S. Chemical ...
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Updating process safety culture: Lessons from BP Texas refinery incident
“That which is everybody’s business is nobody’s business” - Izaak Walton Chemical process plant safety and accident investigation has attained major strides in the past thirty years. Inquiry reports on catastrophic process plant accidents like Flixborough, Piper Alpha, Bhopal, Chernobyl revealed key areas where strengthening is needed to prevent major accidents in the industry . It is a ...
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Bad housekeeping can bring unthinkable consequences
What’s at Stake Some people can’t stand a mess, while others leave an evidence trail of poor housekeeping everywhere they go. But in the workplace, bad housekeeping can have consequences that go far beyond creating an image of a sloppily run, unprofessional operation. What’s the Danger Poor housekeeping causes a wide range of injuries and fatalities, ranging from painful ...
By SafetyNow
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Assessment of geo-hazard potential and site investigations using Resistivity Imaging
The use of geophysical methods for evaluating subsurface contamination of sites is becoming increasingly popular all over the world. The paper presents the assessment of geo-hazard potential of a site in the City of Duncanville, Texas using Resistivity Imaging (RI). Resistivity Imaging was being used to identify areas of environmental concern and to develop a detailed image of subsurface ...
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Combustible Dust: It Doesn’t Take Much
A dust accumulation of 1/32 of an inch deep—about the thickness of a dime—covering just five percent of a room’s surface area doesn’t sound like much, but it’s enough to cause a catastrophic explosion, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Although good engineering and safety practices to prevent dust explosions have existed for decades, ...
By SafetyNow
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The NEP may prove costly to process safety
Both the U.S. Chemical Safety Board BP investigation report and the Baker Panel report were critical of OSHA’s lack of enforcement in the refining sector. OSHA data indicates that U.S. refineries have experienced 36 fatal or catastrophic incidents since 1992, representing more incidents than have occurred in the next three closest chemical industrial groups combined. On March 22, Congress ...
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Water park security operations management from HAISAN water slide company
First, Construction of the security system from HAISAN water slide company 1. Develop a safety management system; 2. Signing a safety responsibility letter; 3. Integrate safety into the performance appraisal system; 4. Establish a safety reward and punishment system; Second, the development of security awareness 1. All staff safety awareness training; 2. Conduct safety awareness guidance for ...
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IndustrySafe safety software case study
Introduction IndustrySafe Safety Software is a web-based safety data management solution developed by TRA so organizations can track incidents, corrective actions, OSHA reporting, training, claims, inspections, hazards, behavioral based safety, and more. IndustrySafe clients include leaders in manufacturing, construction, government, and transportation. General IndustrySafe Overview ...
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Capping of the Excavation Cut for a New High-Speed Railroad Line in Spain - Project Case Study
Project Details Construction of new railroad line Cordoba – Malaga Location Railroad section Puente Genil –Herrera, Spain Products Used BENTOMAT AS CETCOCELL (geocell system) In high speed railroad lines, continued rainfall periods may cause problems due to the presence of soilssensitive to moisture changes. The ground can respond by shrinking (settlement) when it ...
By CETCO
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12,000 U.S. schools are within a mile of a hazardous chemical facility. What should we do about that?
In the absence of a federal U.S. policy for schools located near potentially dangerous sites, community activists search for safer solutions. On April 17, 2013, an explosion and fire at the West Fertilizer Company plant in West, Texas, killed 15 people and injured hundreds. It also destroyed more than 150 buildings around the plant. Among these were the West Intermediate School for 4th and 5th ...
By Ensia
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Statistical optimisation for biological decolourisation and COD removal of screen–printing wastewater using Trametes versicolor
The conventional treatment methods employed in decolourisation of industrial wastewater are not effective and lead to generation of hazardous sludge. In the present investigation, a systematic study of three important process variables (concentration of initial colour, glucose and ammonium chloride) influencing the decolourisation and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal in screen–printing ...
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A New Apparatus for the Evaluation of Electro-Kinetic Processes in Hazardous Waste Management
Possible uses of electro-kinetics for hazardous waste site remediation are being investigated. This paper describes a new apparatus which has been specifically designed, fabricated, and assembled to evaluate the viability, feasibility, practicality, and potential costs of these conceivable techniques experimentally. Results of studies on the existence of electro-osmotic flow in compacted clay and ...
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Investigation of the household hazardous waste stream in a Hellenic municipality
Hazardous waste (HW) in small quantities generated by households is often dumped into the mixed household waste. A variety of chemicals was recorded during a field research presented in the present paper. Aspects analysed in this work contribute to the categorisation of household hazardous waste (HHW) and quantification of them since lack of generation and composition data was noted in Greece. ...
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Sampling and On-Site Analytical Methods for Volatiles in Soil and Groundwater - Field Guidance Manual
Abstract: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are among the most frequently identified contaminants in soil and groundwater samples obtained during the investigation of suspected hazardous waste sites. Because some VOCs and their degradation products are potentially mutagenic, carcinogenic, or teratogenic, their concentrations in these two matrices are key factors in the risk assessment process. ...
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