Safety alerts

The safety alert concept is another tool that can be used by large or small businesses to communicate past best practices and indicate a path forward. On a daily basis, lessons learned should be communicated in a site safety meeting. A worker or supervisor may have discovered that a current practice could cause a potentially dangerous situation. Many times the correction or long-term fix for a hazard involves engineering... 

The safety alert concept may also have a downside. Let s say that after an incident, the company management agrees that parts of the investigation and incident circumstances should be communicated to all workers in the company. After all, if we communicate the existence of a potential danger, we should be able to eliminate the injury in the future. To some, this is just common sense and can be considered a no brainer. However, at a later date, should another employee of that same company suffer a similar injury, what do you think the outcome might be The injured worker (or his lawyer) might be able to prove that the company was negligent because it knew of the problem (as shown in the safety alert) but failed to adequately address it. 

There are at least a couple of conclusions we should draw from this example. If you are going to use safety alerts, even though your intentions are honorable, you may offend the injured party, the folks who took part in the investigation, and others. Be prepared for the fall-out. Also, keep in mind that you need to talk the talk and walk the walk. If an incident occurs and a corrective action is indicated, it behooves you to implement some level of corrective action. If you do not implement a sound corrective action, your company likely has an ineffective safety program to go along with a variety of outstanding lawsuits. 

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a safety alert in 1994 in response to two deaths associated with calcium-phosphate precipitation in PN.16 Autopsy reports from these patients revealed diffuse micro vascular pulmonary emboli containing calcium-phosphate precipitates. Because calcium and phosphate can bind and precipitate in solution, caution must be exercised when mixing these two electrolytes in PN admixtures. Several factors can affect calcium-phosphate solubility, including... 

General Considerations The following general design and operational considerations for avoiding unintended chemical reactions are summarized from a CCPS Safety Alert (2001) ... 

As mentioned in a CCPS Safety Alert (CCPS 2001a), chemical reactivity is a highly desirable trait that permits numerous useful materials to be synthesized. It also allows products to be made under relatively moderate conditions of pressure and temperature, saving energy and reducing the physical risks of high-temperature or high-pressure equipment. However, the same properties that make chemical reactivity so useful also pose hazards... 

CCPS Safety Alert, "Reactive Material Hazards What You Need To Know" (CCPS 2001a). Steps through how to identify if you have reactive chemicals or can have reactive interactions, what data and safeguards are needed to control reactivity hazards, and where to get additional information. Can be downloaded from the AIChE website at http //www.aiche.org/ccps/pdf/reactmat.pdf. 

EPA 1999b. Chemical Safety Alert. "Use Multiple Data Sources for Safer Emergency Response." EPA-F-99-006. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. June. 

Occasionally, the U.S. EPA issues a process safety alert or study that is related to chemical reactivity hazards. The following incident summaries are from a Case Study on phenol-formaldehyde reaction hazards (EPA 1999a) and from an Alert urging the use of multiple data sources when developing emergency response strategies (EPA 1999b). 

In 1985, AIChE established the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) in response to the Bhopal tragedy. Manufacturers, government, and scientific research groups sponsor CCPS, which has published extensive industry guidance in the area of process safety technology and management. CCPS recently produced a safety alert on reactive hazards, and a more comprehensive product is under development. 

This Safety Alert can also be found on the CCPS Web site at www.aiche.org/ccps/safetyalerts. 

Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS), 2001. Safety Alert, Reactive Material Hazards, American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). 

As previously stated, the American Chemistry Council also recognizes this concept as an integral part of the code of Responsible Care , Process Safety Code of Management Practices, Companies should openly share nonproprietary results from internal process safety incident investigations and related research through the auspices of trade and professional associations, and other networking opportunities. Other organizations should strive to benefit from the lessons learned by others and keep abreast of latest developments and safety alerts. 

The standard conditions of registration require the sponsor to inform the TGA of any adverse drug reactions and safety alerts related to their product of which they become aware. 

Technology Centers also collect information about safety and loss-related incidents and quickly communicate it to other plants within the center s scope so that action can be taken to prevent similar incidents elsewhere. As a result of this safety alert procedure, complete information on a safety-related incident in a polystyrene plant in Australia can reach a similar unit in Ohio or California within 48 hours. At the same time the incident would be reported to other Dow locations in Australia, to Dow s Pacific Area headquarters, and to the corporate safety and loss prevention group for dissemination through their respective channels. 

Chilman, K., Mineral Resources (New South Wales) Safety Alert SA99/09, 1999 A bottle containing these three blew its lid on standing, spraying the contents around the lab. Nitric acid is surely capable of oxidising the halocarbon, but slow pressurisa-tion with chlorine is also possible. 

Anonymous. 2003d. The virtues of independent double checks They really are worth your time. ISMP Medical Safety Alert available at www.ismp.org/msarticle/ timeprint.html accessed on March 02, 2003. 

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