Review chemical process hazard

Hofmann, J.M., 1985, Chemical Process Hazard Review , Am. Chem. Soc. Sympos. Ser., Chapter 1. 

Brannegan, D. P., Hazards Evaluation in Process Development, Chemical Process Hazards Review, p. 18. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 1985. 

Assurances that new and existing chemical processes are conducted safely have never been more needed. Public awareness of the effects of chemical exposure has increased since the early 1970s. Although the initial focus of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 was on safety, clearly the emphasis now is on health. People at all levels of society are concerned about exposure to chemicals and the possible short- and longterm effects of chemicals on human health. The effects of chemicals on the environment from past or present waste sites, accidental releases or spills, and fires and explosions are reported daily in the news media. Control of all chemical processes to avoid accidental discharges and/or upsets that lead to fires, explosions, and environmental release is essential in the laboratory, the pilot plant, and the manufacturing plant. Chemical process hazard reviews are necessary at each step in the development of a process to ensure that the process can be controlled and conducted so as to minimize the risks to personnel, property, and the environment. 

The purpose of the symposium upon which this book is based was to provide a forum for the exchange of information on chemical process hazards reviews by industrial research and development chemists, chemical engineers, and safety professionals. The chapters in this text are representative of the subjects presented at the symposium and are provided to give wider dissemination and availability of this information. 

Most major chemical and pharmaceutical companies today have developed systematic methods of evaluating new (and in many cases, old) processes and materials for the hazards attendant to their manufacture. The degree of urgency in establishing a chemical process hazard analysis function has often been dictated by some untoward event (usually within the company). It is to the prediction and control or elimination of unplanned reaction events to which the chemical process hazard review must address itself. 

The challenge that faces chemical researchers, development chemists and engineers, manufacturing chemists and engineers and the staff functional professionals associated with chemical processes is formidible. It is one that requires more and better information about chemical processes to meet today s regulatory demands and both public and private expectations for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Organized and systematic chemical process hazard reviews are necessary to meet these demands. 

The attempt in organizing the Symposium on Chemical Process Hazard Review at the Spring 1984 ACS national meeting in St. Louis, was to present papers on the review procedure, some of the thermochemical evaluation techniques and the application of both of these to actual processes. Some of the papers presented at the symposium have been collected and are published here to further exchange information related to conducting chemical processes "safely."... 

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