Industrial disaster control

Industrial Disaster Control is briefly discussed in the Dangerous Properties of Hazardous Materials by N. Irving Sax, Reinhold, NY (1957), pp 166-169... 

For investors to put Bhopal into perspective it is important to recognize one important factor - Bhopal is not just a synonym for industrial disaster, it is a leading test case for what is alleged to be wrong with the lack of corporate social accountability in the globalized economy. The actions of Union Carbide, and now Dow, are perceived worldwide as those of foreign investors more concerned about damage control than about the hundreds of thousands of human lives their operations have destroyed. 

Levy A Compensation neurosis rides again. Brain Inj 6 401-410,1992 Lopez-Ibor JJ Jr, Soria J, Canas F, et al Psychopathological aspects of the toxic oil syndrome catastrophe. Br J Psychiatry 147 352-365, 1985 Medalia NZ, Larsen ON Diffusion and belief in a collective delusion the Seattle windshield pitting epidemic. Am Sociol Rev 23 180-186,1958 Melius J, Binder S Industrial disasters, in The Public Health Consequences of Disasters 1989. Atlanta, GA, Centers for Disease Control, Public Health Service, 1989, pp 97-102... 

Investigations of industrial accidents reveal that most are caused by human error. The twentieth century s worst industrial disasters—Bhopal, Three Mile Island, and Chernobyl—helped clarify the complex chain of system problems that lead to human error. System problems are problems caused by a process system with built in design and operating deficiencies. The accidents provided numerous checklists and case studies for control room and equipment design. A partial list of some of the problems found at the industrial sites mentioned above are ... 

As mentioned above, significant changes in dmg regulation in Australia, Cypms and the Netherlands, were made as a result of the thalidomide disaster that occurred in Europe in 1961. This is a classic example of a crisis-led change. The disaster increased public concerns about pharmaceutical safety governments responded by imposing more stringent controls on the pharmaceutical sector, and with less resistance from the industry than would normally have been the case. 

It is reported that an industrial explosion was initiated by charging potassium hydroxide in place of potassium carbonate to the chloro-nitro compound in the sulfoxide [1], Dry potassium carbonate is a useful base for nucleophilic displacement of chlorine in such systems, reaction being controlled by addition of the nucleophile. The carbonate is not soluble in DMSO and possesses no significant nucleophilic activity itself. Hydroxides have, to create phenoxide salts as the first product. These are better nucleophiles than their progenitor, and also base-destabilised nitro compounds. Result heat and probable loss of control. As it nears its boiling point DMSO also becomes susceptible to exothermic breakdown, initially to methanethiol and formaldehyde. Methanethiolate is an even better nucleophile than a phenoxide and also a fairly proficient reducer of nitro-groups, while formaldehyde condenses with phenols under base catalysis in a reaction which has itself caused many an industrial runaway and explosion. There is thus a choice of routes to disaster. Industrial scale nucleophilic substitution on chloro-nitroaromatics has previously demonstrated considerable hazard in presence of water or hydroxide, even in solvents not themselves prone to exothermic decomposition [2],... 

The different levels of burn supplies that should be in reserve in the National Strategic Stockpile overseen by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in HHS for different numbers of mass disaster burn casualties and interacting with efforts such as the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and the industrial hotline to obtain supplies in a disaster, and drawing on the expertise of the American Association of Tissue Banks relative to the availabil-ity/transport of skin for burn victims... 

Fusion power generators are inherently safe. The magnetic confinement of the plasma must be carefully controlled and balanced to sustain the nuclear reaction. Any disturbance of the operating conditions will result in termination of the reaction. No combination of system failure, operator error, natural disaster or sabotage can cause the fusion reaction to run away. A nuclear explosion, melt down or similar catastrophic accident is not possible. A violent event, one of sufficient magnitude to disrupt the total reactor, could cause a chemical or electrical fire similar to any industrial fire. 

The Bureau of Mines drew a different lesson from the disaster. Louis McCabe came back to Washington in mid-1949 to head its air and water pollution programs, and under his leadership the Bureau called for a federal air pollution program that went beyond research to control. Like the mine safety expert Daniel Harrington, who had just retired, McCabe was careful to avoid open disputes. He hedged his criticisms of industrial polluters with encomiums to the goodwill of the responsible majority of industry. But the critical tone of his public statements was unmistakable. 

Weisaeth L Psychological and psychiatric aspects of technological disasters, in Individual and Community Responses to Trauma and Disaster The Structure of Human Chaos. Edited by Ursano RJ, McCaughey BG, Fullerton CS. Cambridge, MA, Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp 72-102 Weissman HN Distortions and deceptions in self presentation effects of protracted litigation in personal injury cases. Behav Sci Law 8 67-74,1990 Wessely S Mass hysteria two syndromes Psychol Med 17 109-120,1987 Withers J Major Industrial Hazards Their Appraisal and Control. New York, Halsted Press, 1988... 

The CH insecticide chlordecone caused a serious neurotoxic epidemic in the United States. Because of poor industrial control at the world s only chlordecone plant in Hopewell, Virginia, a mass industrial poisoning and environmental disaster occurred in the 1970s. An internist and neurologist, working independently, diagnosed the first victims (Cannon et al. 1978 Taylor et al. 1980). Psychiatric symptoms developed in 44% of the 133 workers and 19% of the 158 residents (Cannon et al. 1978). These complaints persisted for several weeks after exposure was terminated and included confusion and auditory and visual hallucinations (Taylor et al. 1978). 

Unlike China, India is still recovering from the traumatic events of the Bhopal disaster in 1984 in which over 2,500 people were killed and over 200,000 injured. Because of this perhaps, the Indian chemic industry is under constant observation and likely to be one of the most regulated. As in other developing countries, the regulatory enforcement is very poor and the law breakers are difficult to control. 

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