Safety considerations risk assessment

Mineral exploration, by nature is a high risk activity. The safety consideration, risk assessment and risk mitigation plans are paramount for successful exploration portfolio management. Some of the key factors and consideration for safe and smooth drilling activity are the following ... 

The extrapolation of animal toxicology data and combination with human exposure data aiay be used to estimate risk for those situations where exposure is likely. Methods for integrating these data as well as the assumptions for extrapolation from the animal studies are dependent upon the safety data. Risk assessment includes consideration of the type of toxicity involved and its potency, species comparisons, time considerations, dose response, kinetics of homeostatic mechanisms, and mechanisms of toxicity. When the essential components for extrapolations are well understood, more precise estimates can be made. In the absence of such understanding, more conservative approaches are appropriate. 

A company produced bromine in Arkansas and brominated compounds in New Jersey. A risk assessment resulted in a recommendation to consider the transfer of the bromination processes to the bromine production site in Arkansas. Economics and the decrease in risk justified such a transfer and it was done. Although safety was not the only consideration, it was an important factor in this decision. 

The sheer complexity of environmental mixtnres of EDCs, possible interactive effects, and capacity of some EDCs to bioaccumulate (e.g., in fish, steroidal estrogens and alkylphenolic chemicals have been shown to be concentrated up to 40,000-fold in the bile [Larsson et al. 1999 Gibson et al. 2005]) raises questions about the adequacy of the risk assessment process and safety margins established for EDCs. There is little question that considerable further work is needed to generate a realistic pictnre of the mixture effects and exposure threats of EDCs to wildlife populations than has been derived from studies on individual EDCs. Further discussion of the toxicity of mixtures will be found in Chapter 2, Section 2.6. 

If the risk assessment based on generic data and default values (after consideration of protective measures) does not provide a sufficient margin of safety, compound-specific data on the DFR will have to be developed. These data will afterwards be used in the above outlined procedure instead of generic data from literature. 

Hawksley, J. L. 1987. Risk assessment and project development - considerations for the chemical industry. The Safety Practitioner, October 1987, pp. 10-16. 

For a study of methods of assessment of thermal runaway risk from laboratory to industrial scales [2], A more detailed but eminently clear treatment of this and other needful safety considerations on scaling reactions up to production has since been published [3], So slight a scale-up as replacing two charcoal filters by one bigger one may cause a fire because heat loss was reduced [4], A journal largely devoted to scale-up of organic chemical processes has been launched [5]. 

The primary consideration of a clinical investigation of a device is assessment verification of the manufacturer s claims for the technical performance of the device. Safety considerations are, nevertheless, relevant in that the clinical investigation should determine and assess any undesirable adverse effects, but the main thrust of the clinical evaluation, and in particular of the conformity assessment by a notified body or the manufacturer to permit marketing, is on technical performance rather than a complete evaluation of safety. It is an essential requirement for marketed devices that [A]ny undesirable side-effect must constitute an acceptable risk when weighed against the performances intended. ... 

The focus of this book is on methods and processes designed to predict drug-like properties, exposure and safety during hit and lead discovery. We do not intend to cover specific cultural considerations and marketing aspects [3]. What we will highlight is the need of a risk aware environment for drug discovery, where data-based integrated risk assessment is part of daily life of the team and drives the projects towards molecules with features fit for the description of an efficacious and safe medicine. 

O Neill, R.T., Biostatistical considerations in pharmacovigilance and pharmacoepidemiology linking quantitative risk assessment in pre-market licensure application safety data, post-market alert reports and formal epidemiological studies, Stat. Med., 17, 1851, 1998. 

The Phase 1 quantitative risk assessment for Pueblo and several other stockpile sites with assembled chemical munitions completed several years ago showed that the stockpile at Pueblo presents risk to public health several orders of magnitude lower than any other site. This is because it contains only mustard agent, which is less volatile than other agents, and therefore would not be carried very far in the event of a fire or explosion. Nevertheless, the Army has undertaken several risk and safety assessments to meet the legislative requirement that the technology chosen for Pueblo be as safe as or safer than the baseline system. The committee believes that the incineration technologies under consideration will have very low risk and will meet reasonable interpretations of safety criteria, even if the actual risk numbers marginally exceed the baseline criteria. 

Chapter 2 reviews the lessons learned at JACADS. Chapter 3 assesses the adoption of these lessons into the modified baseline process and evaluates the design information available at the time the report was prepared. Chapter 4 presents the results of stakeholder interactions, as well as safety and risk management considerations. Findings and recommendations are provided in each chapter and compiled in Chapter 5. 

In addition to the need for scientific improvements to allow probabilistic risk assessments to be properly performed and interpreted, there also exists a need to educate stakeholders about what the US system for tolerance establishment and monitoring does and does not do. In simplest terms, the US system can be described as a food quality system but not necessarily a food safety system. This results from the fact that the pesticide tolerances are not safety standards but rather exist as enforcement tools that allow an assessment of how well pesticide application regulations are adhered to. Violative residues demonstrate the likelihood of pesticide misuse but should not be considered, in the vast majority of cases, to represent unsafe residues. Safety considerations govern whether or not the use of pesticides on specified commodities will be permitted tolerances, when granted, serve as indicators of good agricultural practices rather than as toxicological benchmarks. 

Last, but not least, safety is considered in terms of the analysis of the risks associated with potential hazards identified by detailed consideration of the proposed process flowsheet. Safety is the number one concern for chemical engineers and the reader should not confuse the fact that it is the focus of the final chapter in this book with its order of importance. However, in order to carry out a hazard study and risk assessment, one must understand the concepts on which a process flowsheet is developed, and these are covered in the preceding chapters. The procedure describe in Chapter 10 is recognised as best practice in the process industry sector. 

In all aspects of site investigations, health and safety considerations should take priority. Staff should be suitably trained and adequately supervised. Particular care should be taken with monitoring locations that pose particular difficulties for access or that are unsafe in any other way. Risk assessments should be prepared in advance and reviewed at regular intervals. Suitable personal protective equipment and emergency equipment and protocols should be available. 

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