Accident/Incident Scenarios Based on Life Stages Across the Enterprise

Abstract

The risk assessments for chemicals are widely adopted internationally, based on almost the same logic but differ in emphasis. The scenarios for chemical process is generally related to immediate impact of unplanned releases of material and energy, where the effects of fire, explosion and/or acute toxic are targeted, however chemical releases by abnormal operation to the environment or the points of view of life-cycles of chemicals are excluded. Recently the need to assess and manage chemicals more effectively to achieve the 2020 goal of SAICM (Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management) became the international trend, where management of chemicals throughout life-cycles from all relevant sectors, with minimizing their risk are requested. This paper describes the new concept of scenario description for physical hazards caused by chemicals through the life-cycles; 1)Life stages; (a) fixed facility (raw material&storage&production/industrial usage/commercial product usage/waste and disposal), (b)Life stages of transport (ship/truck, automobile/rail road), (c)others&unknown, 2)Inventories; (a)chemicals/fabricated plastics, (b)flammable, toxic, (c)others&unknown, 3)Unplanned release or not, 4)Sequential events by chemical releases; (a)accident/incident causes: human error/electrical cause/mechanical cause/thermal cause/natural phenomena, (b)events after the release: to atmosphere /inside the room /water area /ground /artificial recovery, (c)physical hazard: fire/explosion/release without fire, (d)damage: environment/human/facility&building/others&unknown, 5) Impact to human; (a)thermal, (b)overpressure, (c)acute toxic through inhalation/oral intake/skin, (d)others&unknown. Hereupon accident/incident scenarios are defined, in an expanded sense, to those including both chemicals, chemicals in plastics and/or fabricated plastics. We studied 3 accident/incident databases; "Failure Knowledge Database (chemical part)" of 334 cases, mainly from Japan, "MARS" of 603 cases, mainly from EU, "CSB investigated reports" of 49 cases from USA, by the view point of chemical life-cycles, and analyzed the accident/incident cases according to 4 life stages, shown above. And it was found that these accident/incident databases are apt to collect information for chemical production sites. Based on adding to above arrangements for accident/incident information, found through the internet, we hope to be able to construct a system to find physical hazard scenarios through the life-cycles of chemicals more easily, in the future.

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