Types of Hazards in Industries

Flammable liquids are widely used in many types of factories, and their misuse is responsible for many outbreaks of fire. The fire risks from the flammable liquids in common use such as petrol, paraffin, white spirit, cellulose solutions and thinners are well known, but these are only a few of the liquids which present hazards in industry. The variety of flammable liquids used in processes as solvents or carriers and for other purposes is constantly extending. 

U.S. EPA, Standards for the Management of Specific Hazardous Wastes and Specific Types of Hazardous Waste Management Facilities, Hazardous Waste Burned in Boilers and Industrial Furnaces, 40 CFR Part 266, Subpart H, GPO, November 2008. Available at http //ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx c= ecfr Sid=8268e2678cl3ad85b7c08edcfld43927 rgn=div5 view=text node=40 26.0.1.1.1 idno=40 40 26.0.1.1.1.6. 

Traditionally, RA has been focused on threats to humans posed by industrial pollutants. In recent times there has been a shift to other types of hazards and affected objects (Carpenter, 1996). Ecological risk assessment (EcoRA) has already evolved into separate methodology under the general RA framework. 

An illustration of this has been the response of industry to the 8(e) notice requirements of the law. Most companies have established an internal communications system to collect potential 8(e) information, selected personnel to evaluate the information gathered, and have developed an expertise in handling this type of hazard reporting. Typically, the 8(e) notifier takes appropriate action or response on his own initiative to control or alleviate the risks involved. It has been commonplace for the notifier to advise his customers as well as his employees for the chemical involved of the information contained in the notice. 

The pT-method has gained attention in other countries. In a GTZ project (German government-owned corporation for international technical co-operation or GTZ), the pT-method was applied successfully by the Environmental Agency (FEEMA) of the Federal State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to identify the toxicity of industrial effluents discharging into the Rio Paraiba do Sul and to characterize the toxicity of surface water in water bodies discharging into the Sepetiba Bay (Soares, 2000). In both cases toxic effects could be detected. The pT-value functioned as a useful discriminator that could distinguish different types of hazard potentials. 

In order to carry out a qualitative risk assessment, a way must be found to describe both the severity of a hazard and the probability of its occurrence. In each case, the exercise by the designers of considerable skill and judgment is needed, and the answers may well depend on local circumstances and the type of process or industry under consideration. 

Hazardous Waste Hazardous wastes are generated in limited amounts throughout most industrial activities. In terms of generation, concern is with the identification of amounts and types of hazardous wastes developed at each source, with emphasis on those sources where significant waste quantities are generated. 

Standards for the Management of Specific Hazardous Wastes and Specific Types of Hazardous Waste Management Facilities Hazardous Waste Burned in Boilers and Industrial Furnaces 40 CFR 266.104... 

EPA. 1991a. Standards for the management of specific hazardous wastes and specific types of hazardous waste management facilities. Subpart H Hazardous waste burned in boilers and industrial furnaces. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Code of Federal Regulations. 40 CFR 266, Subpart HH. 

One of the most important aspects in the intermediate field is to determine and make known safe handling techniques for your products. Many intermediates have an element of hazard in their use. The supplier generally takes upon himself the determination of such data as flash point, explosive properties, and toxicology and publishes them in a manual. Here, unlike the field of performance chemicals, suppliers frequently pool their information to give their user the benefit of broader experience and more detailed data. Oftentimes, manuals of this type are published by such organizations as the Manufacturing Chemists Association for the entire industry. 

A compromise has to be reached in the solution of these complex problems depending on the hazard level of the material, type of transport, and industrial technology, which is reflected in national and international transport regulations that lay down provisions and tests for containers. 

Not only federal decision makers are concerned with exposure estimation. In private industry, assessments of employee exposure to various toxic substances used in the workplace, aside from those required by OSHA, are performed by industrial hygienists. Where exposures are felt to have the potential to result in employee health effects, systems engineers may be called in to alter the process or to add additional control technology, or special hazard warnings may be given to the affected employees. Similarly, if unusual clusters of health effects are observed by an industry s medical staff, they may seek exposure data to confirm a correlation between exposure to a certain chemical and the observation of a specific type of effect. In a similar fashion, public interest groups may seek exposure data to confirm a suspected dose-effect relationship. 

Numerous cutaneous hazards that can be found in the electronics industry (Koh 1997) are summarised in Table 1. Despite the multitude of these types of hazards, workers in other manufacturing industries appear to have a higher relative risk for the development of occupational dermatitis. This is thought to be due to the degree of automation in the industry (Adams 1990). However, even with automated processes, opportunities for contact with cutaneous hazards still exist (Fregert 1980). 

Generators. There are many types of businesses and industries that generate hazardous wastes. These include manufacturers, oil refineries, professional offices, commercial facilities such as dry cleaners, service industries including beauty salons, automobile repair shops, and exterminators and medical facilities, hospitals, and laboratories. Based on the RCRA manifest system, these generators have cradle-to-grave responsibility for the proper disposal of the hazardous wastes in the United States. 

---