Accident report format

While this may seem obvious there are many circumstances where such an approach is (albeit unwittingly) imposed. For example, some accident reporting formats effectively constrain the investigation by limiting what is covered to what is required by the report structure. 

Except with nitric acid, most dangerous reactions are those of alcohols with perchloric acid or its salts (that can form acid). All accidents reported are caused by the formation of highly unstable organic perchlorates. 

The accident investigation report is the major result of the investigation. In general, the format should be flexible and designed specifically to best explain the accident. The format may include the following sections (1) introduction, (2) process description (equipment and chemistry), (3) incident description, (4) investigation results, (5) discussion, (6) conclusions, and (7) layered recommendations. 

A more refined form of accident reports is an accident database, where all the reports are presented in a standardized format. Extensive databanks have already been collected from accident reports (Anon, 1996). This kind of standardized format allows easier retrieval of accident information also by computerized means. 

There has also been, in recent years, an upsurge of interest in matters relating to structural accidents. Reports of enquiries into recent accidents have become compulsive reading, whilst at the same time the redrafting of codes of practice into the limit state format has stimulated inquiry into the use of probability theory to determine suitable partial factors. Another aspect of this interest is the increasing concern about the way in which the behaviour of actual structures differs from the predictions based on idealised theoretical models or on isolated laboratory tests on physical models or elements of structures. 

Conversion of the basic accident report data to effective impact velocity is performed to normalize the accident environment for impact in a standard format that... 

Accident reports for the period 1993 through 2007 from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) database were collected from their online database. The data were extracted from . The NTSB database contains information about all aviation accidents for which a summary format is issued. All accidents are reported and there is no significant reporting bias compared to the voluntary submitted ASRS reports. 

Beahm, E. C., Shockley, W. E., Culberson, O. L. Organic iodide formation following nuelear reactor accidents. Report NUREG/CR-4327 (1985)... 

Bell, J. T., Campbell, D. O., Lietzke, M. H., Palmer, D. A., Toth, L. M. (a) Aqueous iodine chemistry in LWR accidents Review and assessment. Report NUREG/CR-2493 (1982) Bell, J. T, Lietzke, M. H., Palmer, D. A. (b) Predicted rates of formation of iodine hydrolysis species at pH levels, concentrations and temperature anticipated in LWR accidents. Report NURG/CR-2900 (1982)... 

The initial use, for our undergraduate teaching labs, of the world wide web was to centrally locate many documents, including the lab course specific CHPs, and allow both easy access and updating when necessary. We became aware of the need to allow access to documents relevant to the students and staff, such as MSDS and course specific protocols. We are currently using the web for access to formatted documents, such as accident reports, spill clean-up procedures and hazardous waste labels. There is still a significant amount of work to be accomplished in this area. 

The format used to report first-aid cases or incidents can be similar to an accident report or can be a separate form. I recommend that your organization develop the form for these types of incidents in-house. Getting input from the people who will be filling out these forms for their development will likely increase the likelihood that they actually get filled out. The first-aid logs can resemble the OSHA 300 log. Any injury that resulted in a Band-aid, ice, a wrap, or medical treatment that is not considered to be recordable would be included on the first-aid log. The name or other identifier of the victim would be included, along with a brief description of the accident, treatment, status, and so on. 

Experiences of the British Airway Safety Services (BASIS) near-accident reporting system support the use of a form for self-reporting with open-ended questions according to the first principle (Reason, 1997). BASIS first tried a form with questions concerning types of human errors and contributing factors, where the answers were given in a multiple-choice format. The resulting data suffered from poor validity and reliability. 

FSAR - Final Safety Analysis Report (Chapter 15 is the accident analysis section in the FSAR standard format). 

Marcker reported in 1862 on the formation of a product in the pyrolysis of salicylide which melted at 103°C and possessed the empirical formula C6H4O. These observations were confirmed by Kraut,and the product was given the name phenylene oxide. Unquestionably it was polymeric but, like numerous other polymers encountered by accident, it has never been investigated as such. 

In the presence of magnesium, cadmium cyanide causes the mixture to incandesce when it is heated. The positive enthalpy of formation of this compound leads one to think that it is an unstable compound. No accident involving this instability has ever been reported. 

Similarly, another accident occurred when metallic silver came into contact with aziridine. According to the authors of the report, the accident was interpreted by the formation of an aziridine silver derivative. Comparing this behaviour with the one of ethylene oxide when silver is present, a danger which is of the same nature is demonstrated. The interpretation that had been given at the time was based on the presence of acetylene in ethylene oxide, whose silver derivatives are very sensitive explosives. It may be that acetylene traces were present in aziridine although none of the authors mentioned such as possibility as far as we know. 

In the presence of potassium tert-butylate and as with most organic compounds, esters combust spontaneousiy after a period of induction that is generally very short. Such accidents have been reported with propyl formate, ethyl acetate and dimethyl carbonate. 

An explosion was experienced dining work up of an epoxide opening reaction involving acidified sodium azide in a dichloromethane/dimethyl sulfoxide solvent. The author ascribes this to diazidomethane formation from dichloromethane [1]. A second report of an analoguous accident, also attributed to diazidomethane, almost certainly involved hydrogen azide for the cold traps of a vacuum pump on a rotary evaporator were involved this implies an explosive more volatile than dichloromethane. It is recommended that halogenated solvents be not used for azide reactions [2]. 

All workers should know the procedure for requesting medical assistance. Many installations have one hotline for medical, technical escort unit, and security support. Workers should be aware of any set format for reporting emergencies that will expedite the report and response time. Once assistance has arrived, the support personnel should be given accurate and complete information about the accident or incident. Teaching the worker... 

Though there do not seem to be any generally available technical reports, there are genuine stories of explosions and burn accidents caused by the inadvertent formation and subsequent decomposition of hydrates of hydrocarbons in railway tank cars in the cold climate of Canada. Incidents occurred due to the practice of washing empty tank carr following their use for transporting liquid hydrocarbons. In a cold winter climate, it is possible to form hydrates with small amounts of hydrocarbon residues, which later decompose when the tank car warms up, e.g., when exposed to sunshine. For example, the clathrate hydrate of isobutene (2-methyl-propene, b.p. -6.9" C) needs only 1.12 bar at 273 K to be stable. Precautions were not taken around such nominally clean and empty tankers, and exposure to sparks or naked flames led to flash fires and explosions. While the main content of the tankers was butane, other hydrocarbons were present. In another kind of industrial accident, a worker was killed by H2S gas liberated from H2S hydrate residue in a heavy water production plant, during a shutdown for maintenance. 

Accidents occurring during LPS conditions should be incorporated into the standard format and content for safety analysis reports. Lists of initiating events and corresponding criteria should be developed. 

DOE-STD-3009-94, Preparation Guide for U.S. Department of Energy Nonreactor Nuclear Facility Safety Analysis Reports, describes a SAR preparation method that is acceptable to the DOE. Chapter 3 of the Standard presents the format and content required for SAR hazard and accident analysis (DOE 1994b). 

The results from synthesis and structure proof studies demonstrate that the product resulting from a TATP synthesis may be a complex mixture. Furthermore, the products are rich in peroxide functionality and make them relatively unstable, and therefore, unsafe. The thermal-induced decomposition of TATP has been studied and is reported to produce primarily acetone, carbon dioxide, and ozone as decomposition products [22-25], TATP from syntheses catalyzed with sulfuric acid, methanesulfonic acid, and perchloric acid was reported to spontaneously decompose over time to yield DADP, even at low temperatures (i.e., 0°C) [26]. While it may be sufficient in many cases to simply identify the presence of TATP, forensic examination may profit from a more complete analysis of the product mixture that comprises unpurified synthetic TATP. Unpurified TATP may be encountered in terrorism investigations, industrial accidents, and other events that involve the possible formation of organic peroxides from acetone and related ketones. 

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