Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, November 16, 2022 at 6:56:36 AM
A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
Connecting Chemistry and Safety at http://www.dchas.org
All article summaries and tags are archived at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas
Table of Contents (12 articles)
HEFTY FINES AND PENALTIES FOR VIOLATORS OF HAZARDOUS MATERIAL DISPOSAL LAWS, SAY SAUDI OFFICIALS
Tags: Saudi_Arabia, public, discovery, environmental, waste
THREE KILLED IN CHEMICAL FACTORY BLAST AT GOWRIPATNAM- THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, death, ethanol
CAUSED BY ELECTRICAL VAPE CHARGER
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, fire, response, batteries
HOWARD JOHNSON INN IN STAUNTON EVACUATED FOLLOWING CHEMICAL MIXUP
Tags: us_VA, public, release, response, pool_chemicals
OPCW AND UNICRI EMPOWER WOMEN IN CHEMISTRY AND LAUNCH COMPENDIUM OF BEST PRACTICES
Tags: Italy, education, discovery, environmental
EP. 102 WHAT'S THE RIGHT STRATEGY WHEN WE CAN'T MANAGE SAFETY AS WELL AS WE'D LIKE TO?
Tags: Australia, industrial, discovery, environmental
DINWIDDIE SCHOOLS DID NOT HAVE OSHA-REQUIRED SAFETY OFFICER AT TIME OF ACCIDENT
Tags: us_VA, laboratory, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
MAJOR ACCIDENT CONTROL IN TEMPORARY STORAGE FACILITIES: AN INVESTIGATIVE CONSEQUENCE ANALYSIS OF THE BANGLADESH CONTAINER DEPOT ACCIDENT 2022
Tags: Bangladesh, industrial, follow-up, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
STA: KOčEVJE CHEMICAL PLANT MOVING OUT OF CITY CENTRE
Tags: Slovenia, industrial, follow-up, environmental, unknown_chemical
ONITSHA MARKET TO REOPEN SEVEN DAYS AFTER EXPLOSION THE NATION NEWSPAPER
Tags: Nigeria, industrial, follow-up, environmental, drugs
JEFFERSON PARISH WOULD PROHIBIT NEW HAZARDOUS MATERIAL BULK STORAGE SITES, UNDER DRAFT RULES
Tags: us_LA, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
WALTHAM OFFICE BUILDING EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL IN LAB
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, release, injury, solvent
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HEFTY FINES AND PENALTIES FOR VIOLATORS OF HAZARDOUS MATERIAL DISPOSAL LAWS, SAY SAUDI OFFICIALS
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2200526/saudi-arabia
Tags: Saudi_Arabia, public, discovery, environmental, waste
Riyadh: The National Center for Environmental Compliance said those who illegally dispose of “hazardous materials in environmental surroundings” face up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to SR30 million ($8 million), or both penalties.
The penalties are due to “the gravity of this violation and the resulting severe damage to the environment,” according to the center’s official spokesman, Abdullah Sayel Al-Mutairi.
According to Saudi Arabia’s environmental laws, hazardous waste is “waste that causes harm to the environment, its components, and human health, and retains dangerous or infectious properties, such as high toxicity, explosiveness, or interaction, and has no use unless it is treated in accordance with special requirements.”
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THREE KILLED IN CHEMICAL FACTORY BLAST AT GOWRIPATNAM- THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/andhra-pradesh/2022/nov/16/three-killed-in-chemical-factory-blast-at-gowripatnam-2518727.html
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, death, ethanol
RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM: An explosion at a chemical factory at Gowripatnam in East Godavari district claimed lives of three workers on Tuesday.The deceased have been identified as Y Ratnababu, VV Satyanarayana and D Mahider. According to Kovvur DSP VSN Varma, the blast occurred at Vision Drugs factory in Devarapalli mandal at around 11.30 am.
“The blast happened in the production block in the factory when the three employees were trying to remove the ethonol, struck in the pipe, with an iron rod. A probe has been launched to enquire whether the explosion occurred due to leakage or labor work fault. The bodies of the deceased have been sent to Kovvur government hospital for postmortem,” said the DSP.
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CAUSED BY ELECTRICAL VAPE CHARGER
https://www.essex-fire.gov.uk/incidents/i9246/
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, fire, response, batteries
Firefighters were called to reports of a house fire in Maldon this afternoon (Tuesday 15 November).
When the first fire crews arrived, they reported the first floor of the house was full of smoke and a bedroom was engulfed in flames. The fire has also spread to the roof.
Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the property and extinguished the blaze.
Watch Manager Martin Cable, Maldon Fire Station, said:
"This fire has caused extensive damage to the house and the occupants will not be able to live there for some time - there is a lot of damage to repair.
"The fire started in the bedroom where a vape, which was plugged into a charger, was left on the bed unattended. The vape overheated and caught the bedding and mattress alight. The fire then spread around the bedroom.
"Incidents like this show how important it is to think about how you should charge your electrical items safely. We advise that you only use a reputable charger, and not a cheap alterntive which are often not tested or conform to safety standards. We also urge people not to leave any electrical items charging unattended and to place the items on a fire resistant surface, not a bed or sofa which are much more flammable."
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HOWARD JOHNSON INN IN STAUNTON EVACUATED FOLLOWING CHEMICAL MIXUP
https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/local/2022/11/15/howard-johnson-inn-in-staunton-evacuated-following-chemical-mixup/69649362007/
Tags: us_VA, public, release, response, pool_chemicals
STAUNTON — The Howard Johnson Inn on North Central Avenue in downtown Staunton was evacuated late Monday night following a malfunction that caused a chemical mixup, according to Deputy Chief Perry Weller of Staunton Fire & Rescue.
Two people were taken from the scene by the Staunton-Augusta Rescue Squad to the hospital for evaluation.
Weller said a pump inside a laundry room malfunctioned at the hotel, causing sodium hypochlorite (bleach) to mix with another chemical, which he said created a type of chlorine gas.
Fire crews neutralized the mixture and ventilated the entire building before clearing the scene, Weller said.
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OPCW AND UNICRI EMPOWER WOMEN IN CHEMISTRY AND LAUNCH COMPENDIUM OF BEST PRACTICES
https://www.miragenews.com/opcw-and-unicri-empower-women-in-chemistry-and-895985/
Tags: Italy, education, discovery, environmental
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), in cooperation with the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), organised a symposium on Women in Chemistry, held at the UN campus in Turin, Italy, from 9 to 10 November.
The theme for this year’s symposium was “identifying opportunities for gender diversity in chemical safety and security”.
The two-day symposium highlighted the important contributions made by women to the peaceful uses of chemistry, and looked at some of the challenges they face. Participants were able to increase international solidarity and cooperation, and discuss the opportunities for professional development and knowledge exchange for women in chemistry. Experts from governmental authorities, laboratories and academia shared their experience in identifying opportunities for career growth, training, and certification, and highlighted the added value of gender diversity in chemistry.
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EP. 102 WHAT'S THE RIGHT STRATEGY WHEN WE CAN'T MANAGE SAFETY AS WELL AS WE'D LIKE TO?
https://safetyofwork.com/episodes/ep-102-whats-the-right-strategy-when-we-cant-manage-safety-as-well-as-wed-like-to
Tags: Australia, industrial, discovery, environmental
In this episode, we’ll be discussing the paper entitled, “Managing risk in hazardous conditions: improvisation is not enough” by Rene Amalberti and Charles Vincent (2019), published in BMJ Quality & Safety. Though the paper is focused on the healthcare industry, we can extrapolate the findings to safety in other industries. We’ll discuss the need for different or modified levels of acceptable safety measures in “degraded operations” when 100% adherence to safety rules is simply not possible.
Healthcare systems are under stress as never before. An aging population, increasing complexity and comorbidities, continual innovation, the ambition to allow unfettered access to care, and the demands on professionals contrast sharply with the limited capacity of healthcare systems and the realities of financial austerity. This tension inevitably brings new and potentially serious hazards for patients and means that the overall quality of care frequently falls short of the standard expected by both patients and professionals. The early ambition of achieving consistently safe and high-quality care for all has not been realised and patients continue to be placed at risk. In this paper, we ask what strategies we might adopt to protect patients when healthcare systems and organisations are under stress and simply cannot provide the standard of care they aspire to.
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DINWIDDIE SCHOOLS DID NOT HAVE OSHA-REQUIRED SAFETY OFFICER AT TIME OF ACCIDENT
https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/dinwiddie-schools-did-not-have-osha-required-safety-officer
Tags: us_VA, laboratory, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
DINWIDDIE COUNTY, Va. -- The Dinwiddie County School System did not follow state recommendations on how to teach science safely when an accident occurred in a chemistry classroom that injured students and a teacher, according to information obtained through a public records request.
A recommendation that schools have a Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHP) is included in the Virginia Department of Education's Safety in Science Teaching guidance from 2019.
The purpose of a school CHP is to describe all of the precautions that will be taken to protect students and teachers from chemical hazards, according to Dr. Jim Kaufman, the head of the non-profit Laboratory Safety Institute.
He said a CHP is critical to protect student and teacher safety.
"It's not just having a document and a person, it's having a program where people are really buying into it participating in the program," Kaufman said.
But according to a recent public records request filed by WTVR CBS 6, Dinwiddie County School's CHP could not be found, or did not exist on the day of the accident.
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MAJOR ACCIDENT CONTROL IN TEMPORARY STORAGE FACILITIES: AN INVESTIGATIVE CONSEQUENCE ANALYSIS OF THE BANGLADESH CONTAINER DEPOT ACCIDENT 2022
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.chas.2c00055
Tags: Bangladesh, industrial, follow-up, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
In the past few years, a number of incidents related to fire and explosions in temporary chemical storage facilities have occurred that have resulted in large numbers of casualties. This includes explosions at a warehouse near Tianjin Port, China, in 2015 and that at a warehouse facility storing ammonium nitrate at Beirut port, Lebanon, in 2020. Very recently, a similar incident occurred in a container depot in Bangladesh. On June 4, 2022, a massive fire broke out at BM Inland Container Depot, a temporary storage facility in the town of Sitakunda, Bangladesh. The fire and subsequent explosions resulted in at least 48 fatalities, including 10 firefighters, and injured more than 200 people. The fire, which took 86 h to completely extinguish, has resulted in financial losses of more than US$152 million according to authorities. In this paper, an investigative consequence analysis of the accident is presented with the goals to identify the possible reasons that culminated in the!
catastrophe, quantify the magnitude of the explosion, and explore the key lessons learned. This work also sheds light on the existing local legislation and international guidelines relating to the storage of hazardous materials. Furthermore, human and social consequences of an accident similar in magnitude have been assessed for two other inland container depots. This work, thus, may be considered a scientific exercise aimed at creating awareness of the gravity of accidents in temporary storage facilities and a lesson learned to prevent such catastrophes in the future.
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STA: KOčEVJE CHEMICAL PLANT MOVING OUT OF CITY CENTRE
https://english.sta.si/3104926/kocevje-chemical-plant-moving-out-of-city-centre
Tags: Slovenia, industrial, follow-up, environmental, unknown_chemical
Kočevje, 14 November - Chemical company Melamin is moving production out of Kočevje city centre after a deadly explosion occurred there in May. A new plant is to be built just north of the town, so that the most dangerous part of production could be moved there in about three years in a project worth EUR 10 million.
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ONITSHA MARKET TO REOPEN SEVEN DAYS AFTER EXPLOSION THE NATION NEWSPAPER
https://thenationonlineng.net/onitsha-market-to-reopen-seven-days-after-explosion/
Tags: Nigeria, industrial, follow-up, environmental, drugs
Commercial activities will resume today at Onitsha Bridgehead market, Anambra State exactly one week after it was shut, following chemical explosion that rocked the drug (Ogbogwu) section of the market, which claimed five lives.
00:08/01:00
The Chairman of the market, Chinedu Ezekwike, made this known yesterday at the new yam festival celebration of his Public Relations Officer, Peter Okala, at Okasi, Iyiowa Odekpe in Ogbaru Local Government.
A two-minute silence was observed in honour of those killed by the chemical explosion, as directed by Ezekwike, who managed to be in attendance, as he was still mourning the deceased.
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JEFFERSON PARISH WOULD PROHIBIT NEW HAZARDOUS MATERIAL BULK STORAGE SITES, UNDER DRAFT RULES
https://www.nola.com/news/article_d98866b6-646e-11ed-a338-f708aac54956.html
Tags: us_LA, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
Jefferson Parish would prohibit businesses from opening new bulk storage sites for hazardous materials under a sprawling proposal aimed at modernizing the parish’s industrial zoning rules.
The proposed regulation is one of several recommended in an 85-page report released Sunday and authored by the parish’s Planning Department and the private consulting firm Camiros. The parish is hosting public meetings Tuesday and Wednesday to gather input on the changes, which would overhaul decades-old rules on how and where industry can operate.
Among other changes, the proposed regulations would require existing hazardous material bulk storage sites to submit an “odor control plan.” They’d also be required to provide a 24-hour hotline for the public.
The Parish Council initiated a review of the parish’s industrial zoning districts in 2020, six months after reaching an agreement with Cornerstone Chemical. The company had sued the parish after the council rescinded a permit it had previously granted for a planned expansion of hydrogen cyanide storage capacity at the company's Waggaman plant.
Parish Council member Deano Bonano, who helped spearhead the review, said the proposed changes won’t come before the Council anytime soon.
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WALTHAM OFFICE BUILDING EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL IN LAB
https://www.wcvb.com/article/waltham-massachusetts-hazmat-situation-lab-spill/41958209
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, release, injury, solvent
WALTHAM, Mass. —
Massachusetts hazmat crews spent hours working to resolve a chemical spill that forced the evacuation of an office building in Waltham on Monday.
Waltham Fire Department officials said the spill happened at about 2 p.m. inside a laboratory at Azenta Life Sciences at 1432 Main St., which is along Route 117 and not far from Route 128.
The spill involved an acid-based, flammable solvent but it was contained in the Azenta Life Sciences lab, officials said.
Waltham fire Chief Andrew Mullin said the amount of solvent spilled was between a liter and a gallon.
No serious injuries were reported, but two people were taken to an area hospital as a precaution and seven others were medically evaluated by emergency personnel at the scene. Those people were experiencing symptoms that included skin, nose and throat irritation.
Mullin said a state hazmat team and a cleanup company responded to the scene.
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