A chemical accident is the unintentional release of one or more hazardous substances that may harm human health or the environment. Chemical hazard is a system in which chemical accidents can occur in certain circumstances. Such incidents include fire, explosion, leakage or release of toxic or hazardous substances which may cause sickness, injury, disability or death.
While chemical accidents can occur whenever toxic materials are stored, transported or used, the most severe accidents are industrial accidents, involving factories and major chemical storage facilities. The most significant chemical accidents in recorded history are the Bhopal disaster of 1984 in India, where more than 3,000 people have died after highly toxic vapors (methyl isocyanate), released at the Union Carbide Pesticide plant.
Efforts to prevent accidents range from enhancement of safety systems to fundamental changes in chemical use and manufacturing, which are called primary or inherent safety precautions.
In the United States, concerns about chemical accidents following the Bhopal disaster led to the passage of the Emergency Planning and Know-Know Rights Act of 1986. EPCRA requires local emergency planning efforts across the country, including emergency notices. The law also requires companies to provide publicly available information about the storage of their toxic chemicals. Based on that information, residents can identify vulnerable zones where severe toxic release can cause harm or death.
In 1990, the Agency for Inquiry of Chemical Safety and Hazard was formed by Congress, although CSB did not operate until 1998. The Council's mission was to determine the root causes of chemical accidents and issue safety recommendations to prevent future Safety Performance Indicators. It also organized workshops on a number of issues related to preparing, preventing, and responding to chemical accidents.
In the EU, incidents such as the Flixborough disaster and the Seveso disaster resulted in legislation such as the Seveso Directive and Seveso planning and delivering safety reports to local authorities. Many countries have organizations that can assist with the risk assessment of substance and emergency planning required by various laws, such as the National Chemical Emergency Center in the UK, Brandweerinformatiecentrum voor gevaarlijke stoffen/The fire service information center for dangerous goods in Belgium.
In the UK, the UK Chemical Hazard Reaction Forum publishes an accident report on its website. These accidents, at the time, were small in nature, but they could escalate into major accidents. It is hoped that publishing this incident will prevent "Re-inventing the Wheel". Currently, (Dec 2008), there are over 140 articles on the website.
Video Chemical accident
References
Maps Chemical accident
External links
- Response 24-7
- National Chemical Emergency Center
- Brandweerinformatiecentrum voor gevaarlijke stoffen/Fire service information center for dangerous goods
- Case Study in Plant Process Accident
- US. Agency for Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigations [1]
- US. EPA, Office of Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention [2]
- Security in the use of Chemicals in the workplace - International Labor Organization (ILO) - (file-PDF)
- MSDSonline.com A Searchable Database for Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)
- OECD Program on Chemical Accidents: Directorate of the Environment
- Guiding Principles for Chemical Accident Preparedness, Preparedness and Response
- National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety - Chemical Security
- The searchable database for accident and chemistry safety lessons - FACTSOnline
- Preventing Chemical Accidents - How To Prevent Chemicals Defiling Your Workplace - Safety Storage System
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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