Risk Communication of Chemical Accidents

CASE STUDY RISK COMMUNICATION OF CHEMICAL ACCIDENTS IN BAIX LLOBREGAT, SPAIN... 

Despite the common misperception of chemical process industry being dangerous to occupants and surrounding communities, which is promoted by isolated case histories, such as the Bhopal tragedy, regular statistics show a very different picture. According to the data presented by Sanders (2005) the relative risk index of workplace accidents in chemical and allied products industry (value of 0.6) is about 20 times less than the relative risk faced by Fishermen (index of 21.3) and Timber cutters (index of 20.6). It is even less than the relative risk of an average job (index of 1.0). This fact is further emphasized when it comes to the fatal accidents and death. 

The purpose of the RMP is to reduce chemical risk at the local level. This information helps local fire, police, and emergency response personnel (who must prepare for and respond to chemical accidents) and is useful to individuals in understanding the chemical hazards in communities. Ideally, making the RMPs available to the public stimulates communication between industry and the public to improve accident prevention and emergency response practices at the local level. 

When talking about the safety and management of chemicals, one of the issues which has always been problematic for manufacturers, importers and downstream users is the quality of Safety Data Sheets (SDS). SDS are very important tools for communicating the risks of chemicals across the supply chain. They describe the hazards of the substance, give information on safe handling and storage, and lay out emergency measures in case of an accident. 

Several sets of wide-reaching regulations also directly affect laboratory operations. The Clean Air Act (42 USC 7401 et seq.) regulates emissions into the air and sets specific limits on the disposal of volatiles through the fume hood system. To protect both the community and the emergency response personnel that may be put at risk by a laboratory accident, the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA 42 USC 9601 et seq., 11000 et seq.) requires that inventories of hazardous chemicals be maintained and made available to the public. The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA 15 USC 4601 et seq.) is concerned with the manufacture, distribution, and processing of new chemicals that are unusually dangerous to health and/or the environment. 

It can be very difficult to explain FARs in deaths per 10 hours to the general, nontechnical public. However, the consequences of failure to explain rationally and honestly to the public the risks and the steps taken to reduce those risks are tremendous. The ethical role of the chemical engineer in this communication is discussed in Chapter 23. Beyond those responsibilities, the damage from poor communication can destroy an industry. For exanple, the nuclear power industry in the United States has been destroyed in large part by the failure to communicate risks to the general public in a way that it could understand. When even relatively minor accidents occur, many feel that they were misled by engineers who seemed to have said that there were no risks, no chance of an accident. 

The Seveso Directive is administered by the European Union through the Major Accident Hazards Bureau services (MAHB) located within the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra, Italy. The Bureau also oversees the European Community s Documentation Centre Industrial Risk (CDCIR) and manages the Major Accident Reporting System (MARS) with the aim to create a repository of information and facilitate the exchange between the members of the European Community. MARS follows the requirements of the Seveso II directive and collects information about major chemical incidents as well as the response and results. Member States are required to report the events by using standardized forms. 

The Black Sea coastal region of Turkey is an unfortunate area as it also received an appreciable dose of radioactive fall-out after the Chernobyl accident. After this accident almost a whole years crops (mainly nuts and tea leaves) had to be collected and destroyed. So this barrels story was only an additional incident to the misfortune in that part of the country. In both of these almost concurrent occurrences, the Black Sea coast pec le in Turkey suffered economically, ecologically, socially and perhaps paid with their health for the mistakes of others. Such incidents may happen to any nation or community anytime, perhaps even with more drastic end-results. This shows that the scientists and politicians of the wwld must work together to stop illegitimate transport of dangerous chemicals, and minimize risks of accidents which may create environmental disasters with transboundary transport possibilities. 

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