Controlling Hazards

S. Lipton and J. Lynch, Handbook of Health Hazard Control in the Chemical Process lndustry, ]okm. Wiley Sons, Inc., New York, 1994. 

S. M. Rappaport and T. J. Smith, eds. Fxposure AssessmentforFpidemiology and Hazard Control, Lewis, Chelsea, Mich., 1991. 

Hazards avoided Hazards controlled by added equipment... 

The identification of hazards includes both a search for those hazards reduced or eliminated by inherently safer design, and a search for hazards controlled by instmmentation and administrative procedures. 

Inherently safer approaches to dust explosion hazard control include inerting and building equipment strong enough to contain an explosion. 

TABLE 1-1 Summary of Access and Hazard Control Measures. 

The document should be designed to be concise, user friendly, and usable as a reference for both supervisors and workers. It should help identify hazards and implement hazard control requirements for the... 

The HASP focuses on the specific tasks down to the worksite level and identifies job- and task-based hazards, exposure-monitoring requirements, hazard controls and approaches, requirements necessary to protect workers, and, sometimes, the name of the person responsible for a certain activity. 

Critical to hazard characterization is the identification of hazards and the assessment of possible worker exposure. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways. As described before, one commonly used technique is a JHA with project teams that include the worker. The information collected is used by the SSHO and the radiation control officer to develop an appropriate hazard control and protection strategy. 

Hazard controls include engineering and administrative controls and PPE. Hazard characterization is a tool that is used to develop hazard controls and safe work practices and procedures and to make sure that the appropriate PPE is selected for each job. 

After potential hazards have been identified, site access and hazard controls should be developed and put in place before work begins. This process of recognizing and evaluating new hazards and putting controls in place continues until the task or job analysis is complete. In addition, as mentioned earlier, as new information is discovered or becomes available, this should be immediately considered. If an amendment is in order, this should be completed and communicated to all involved. 

Provide ongoing assurance that access and hazard controls limit worker exposure... 

Acceptable Exposure formation adequate to develop Access to the Hazard Controls ... 

The levels of PPE discussed provide controls of the hazardous substance based on the degree of worker exposure. As we have discussed before, PPE is only acceptable as a hazard control measure in the following situations ... 

D. Task-specific hazard analyses must lead to the development of written standard operating procedures (SOPs) that specify the controls necessary to safely perform each task. Detailed hazard analyses conducted for each site task and operation provide the basis for developing SOPs to protect employees from safety and health hazards. Written SOPs provide a mechanism for informing employees of procedures that ensure their safety and for enabling management to enforce hazard control procedures. 

Safe work practices for hazards control lockout/tagout, confined space entry, procedures for opening process boundaries and entrance control for maintenance... 

Hazards analysis techniques fall in two broad categories. Some techniques focus on hazards control by assuring that the design is in compliance with a pre-existing standard practice. These techniques result from prior hazards analysis, industry standards and recommended practices, results of incident and accident evaluations or similar facilities. Other techniques are predictive in that they can be applied to new situations where such pre-existing standard practices do not exist. 

The most common hazards control technique is a checklist. The checklist is prepared by experienced personnel who are familiar with the design, construction and operation of similar facilities. Checklists are relatively easy to use and provide a guide to the evaluator of items to be considered in evaluating hazards. API RP 14J has examples of two checklists which can be used to evaluate facilities of different complexity. Because production facilities are very similar and have been the subject of many hazard analyses, a checklist analysis to assure compliance with standard practice is recommended for most production facilities. The actual procedure by which the checklist is considered and the manner in which the evaluation is documented to assure compliance varies from case-to-case. 

Functions such as industrial hygiene (the protection of worker health against occupational hazards) and hazardous waste mcmagement involve the control of hazards arising from processes. As with process safety, you can attempt to use engineering-based solutions alone, but will find that ongoing control of hazards is difficult to achieve. Designing-in hazard control and... 

R. J. Firenze, The Process of Hazard Control, Kendall/Hunt Publisliing Company, New York, 1979... 

Firenze, R.J., Tlie Process of Hazard Control, 1 Edition, Kendall/Hurt Publishing Co., Dubuque, lA, 1978,... 

Factory process Health hazard Control measures... 

The two different, but related, considerations in waste disposal are hazard control and loss prevention in the treatment and disposal operations, and the control of environmental hazards. With gas and liquid streams the control of on-site hazards arising from the chemical properties and processing operations generally follows the principles summarized in earlier chapters. The measures necessary with solid wastes may, however, differ, particularly if they are heterogeneous in nature and disposed of on land. 

J. Paige, M. Chaudry, and F. Pell, Chem. Food Borne Hazards Control, 15, 45 (1999). 

Preliminary Hazard Analysis. The next step in the process is the development of a PHA. This analysis is the core of the FSS program and as such is vital in eliminating or reducing the inherent hazards associated with this laboratory operation. The PHA is used to further analyze the data identified in the PHL. This enhances the hazard control data base and provides specific recommended corrective action for the resolution of hazardous conditions. A combination of the informational sources used in the PHL development and any additional design information should be used in PHA development. 

Human exposure, to ethylene oxide, 10 660 Human exposure, to ozone, 17 815 Human factors, in process hazards control, 21 861-862... 

Most polymers are inherently non-toxic and can be sufficiently defined to present no unreasonable risk. Site-limited intermediates have limited exposure potential by definition which together with chronic hazard control language will present no unreasonable risk but will result in real economic savings. 

A 25,000-pound per year production rate is not a demarcation between large and small ventures. Such a point would be at a far higher scale of production. Instead, the proposed 25,000-pound exemption represents an economically-justified and virtually risk-free means of aiding innovation in the chemical industry, particularly when coupled with appropriate chronic hazard control language as for intermediates. 

It is also necessary to bear in mind the possible outcome of an exposure. When the worst outcome is likely to be a minor disability, such as an irritating cough or an annoying skin eruption, then the risk is minimal, but it should still be reduced as close to zero as is feasible. On the other hand, when the worst outcome is a major disability, such as debilitating bronchial asthma, liver and kidney disease, destructive blood disease, brain or nerve damage, cancer, or untimely death, then hazard control is absolutely necessary. It becomes essential, then, that you as a manager know what the possible outcomes are, how to establish permissible limits of exposure, and ultimately how to control the real and potential hazard. 

A fire risk assessment should be documented to provide a clear overall picture of the possible fire hazards and the role safety systems play in hazard control and mitigation. Also, a fire risk assessment should be maintained evergreen during the lifecycle of the facility to ensure ongoing management of fire hazards. 

For a Class I or Class II area, a Division 1 location is likely to contain the hazardous condition during normal operations or frequently because of maintenance and repair. A Division 2 location is likely to contain the hazardous condition only under abnormal circumstances, such as process upset or equipment failure. These two divisions, which are based on the likelihood of an atmosphere being hazardous, control or prescribe the design, construction, and operating features of equipment in that area. Engineering practice tolerates lower levels of protection where there is less likelihood of a hazardous material being present. Thus, Division 1 locations require equipment built to higher standards than equipment built for Division 2 locations. 

---