Safety, chemical industry

Handling Chemicals Safely, 2nd ed., Dutch Assoc, of Safety Experts, Dutch Chemical Industry Assoc., and Dutch Safety Inst., 1980. 

Center for Chemical Process Safety. In 1985, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers estabHshed the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) (New York). The objective of the CCPS was to help prevent catastrophic chemical accidents by compiling information on the latest scientific and engineering practices, safety programs, and adininistrative procedures of the larger members of the chemical industry, so that they can be shared with other (and particularly the smaller) members of the chemical and petrochemical industries. 

In general, DOT safety regulations fall into two categories. The first pertains to qualifications and hours of service of carrier employees and the safety of transport operations and equipment. The second, of special concern to the chemical industry, pertains to the transportation of hazardous materials and related commodities. 

General In comparison with design information on blowdown drums and cyclone separators, there is very httle information in the open technical hterature on the design of quench tanks in the Chernies industry. What is available deSs with the design of quench tanks (Sso called suppression pools) for condensation of steam or steam-water mixtures from nuclear reactor safety vSves. Information and criteria from quench tanks in the nuclear industry can be used for the design of quench tanks in the chemicS industry. There have been sev-... 

CIA 1990. A Approach to the Categorization of Process Plant Hazard and Control Building Design. Prepared by Working Group 3 of the Major Hazards Steering Group. Issued by the Safety Committee of the Chemical Industry Safety and Health Council of the Chemical Industries Association, Eondon. 

The American Chemistry Council, formerly the Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA), and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Center for Chemical Process Safety (AIChE/CCPS) have jointly published Evaluating Process Safety in the Chemical Industry User s Guide to Quantitative Risk Analysis. This is a revised and updated edition of Evaluating Process Safety in the Chemical Industry A Manager s Guide to Quantitative Risk Analysis, published in 1989 by CMA. 

The use of electrochemical protection in the chemical industry started about 20 years ago, which is somewhat recent, compared with its use for buried pipelines 40 years ago. Adoption was slow because the internal protection has to be tailored to the individual plant, which is not the case with the external protection of buried objects. Interest in internal protection came from the increasing need for greater safety for operating plants, increased demands for corrosion resistance, and larger plant components. While questions of its economy cannot generally be answered (see Section 22.6), the costs of electrochemical protection are generally less than the cost of equivalent and reliable coatings or corrosion-resistant materials. 

Guidelines for Certification to ISO 9001 - Health, Safety and Environmental Management Systems (and BS7750 -Environmental Management Systems) in the Chemical Industry (1992)... 

ORP Oxidation reduction potential - the degree of completion of a chemical reaction by detecting the ratio of ions in the reduced form to those in the oxidized form as a variation in electrical potential measured by an ORP electrode assembly. OSHA The Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) is a law designed to protect the health and safety of industrial workers and treatment plant operators. It regulates the design, construction, operation and maintenance of industrial plants and wastewater treatment plants. The Act does not apply directly... 

On December 14, 1977, Trevor Kletz, who was at that time safety advisor for the ICI Petrochemicals Division, presented the annual Jubilee Lecture to the Society of Chemical Industry in Widnes, England. His topic was What you don t have, can t leak, and this lecture was the first clear and concise discussion of the concept of inherently safer chemical processes and plants. 

Basic process chemistry using less hazardous materials and chemical reactions offers the greatest potential for improving inherent safety in the chemical industry. Alternate chemistry may use less hazardous raw material or intermediates, reduced inventories of hazardous materials, or less severe processing conditions. Identification of catalysts to enhance reaction selectivity or to allow desired reactions to be carried out at a lower temperature or pressure is often a key to development of inherently safer chemical synthesis routes. Some specific examples of innovations in process chemistry which result in inherently safer processes include ... 

Carriers and the chemical industry are working together to improve transportation safety. The American Association of Railroads has agreed to designate routes that handle 10,000 loads per year or more of chemicals as Key Routes." Routes designated as Key Routes will receive upgraded track, enhanced equipment to detect flaws in equipment or in trackage, and lower speed limits. 

Kharbanda, O. P., and E. A. Stallworthy (1988). Safety in the Chemical Industry. London Heinemann Professional Publishing, Ltd. 

I had the good fortune to become involved in process safety at the right time. It was the right time for me personally as without my previous 16 years in production, I would not have had the right experience. It was also the right time in another sense as, in 1968, the subject was poised for take-off. The chemical industry was coming to realize that safety needed a technical input and was not just something that could be left to an elderly foreman. 

DOL, 1986, Safety and Health Guide for the Chemical Industry, (OSHA 9081). 

A leader in applying PSA to other parts of the chemical process industry has been the AlChf. s Center for Chemical Process Safety. A major difference between PSA for nuclear power and PSA for chemical processing has been the lack of government regulations that require risk analysis for chemical processes. A primary impetuous has been the Occupational Safety and Health Administration s (OSHA) PSM rule that defines the application of PSA to the chemical industry for ihc proteciion of the public and workers. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agcrii, . (EPA) regulates waste disposal. 

Chemical Safety Summary, Chemical Industries Association, London, July-Sept. 1980, p. 15. 

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