| About This Archive | | DCHAS-L 2012 Index | | DCHAS-L Yearly Index | |
Check out Safety Emporium for your N95, N99, and face shield needs.
|
Previous by Date: Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Radon Removal Date: May 20, 2012 5:09:10 PM EDT Author: Carlos Rentas Jr |
Next by Date: Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (16 articles) Date: May 23, 2012 7:49:42 AM EDT Author: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" |
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, May 21, 2012 7:43:17 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 (13 articles)
CLEANUP SAFETY FLAWED
Tags: New_Zealand, industrial, follow-up, injury, toxics
CHEMICAL SPILL AT POOL SUPPLY STORE LEADS TO FLASH FIRE
Tags: us_MO, public, fire, response, unknown_chemical
CHEMICAL SENDS 5 FROM FLA AIRPORT TO HOSPITAL
Tags: us_FL, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical, irritant
PUPILS AND STAFF EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL ALERT
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, release, injury, unknown_chemical
EXPLOSION IN LEKKI
Tags: Nigeria, transportation, explosion, death, flammables, gas_cylinders
BOSTIK TO PAY $600,000 IN FINES FOR SAFETY INFRACTIONS AFTER EXPLOSION
Tags: us_MA, industrial, follow-up, injury
FATAL EXPLOSION WAS A TRAGIC ACCIDENT
Tags: us_OH, public, explosion, death, acetylene
NEW STUDY SHOWS THAT WORKPLACE INSPECTIONS SAVE LIVES, DON'T DESTROY JOBS
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, injury
ONE KILLED IN FIRE AT KANDLA COMPLEX, IBN LIVE NEWS
Tags: India, transportation, fire, death, unknown_chemical
PHOSPHOROUS MAY HAVE BEEN ON HOT BEACH ROCKS IN CA
Tags: us_CA, public, fire, response, phosphorus
FIRE EMISSIONS CREATE ODOR
Tags: us_PA, industrial, fire, response, sulphur
LABOR DEPT. SAYS $600K SETTLEMENT REACHED WITH CHEMICAL COMPANY IN 2011 MASS. PLANT BLAST
Tags: us_MA, industrial, follow-up, injury, acetone
WDTV.COM 5 NEWS: UPDATE: ONE FLOWN AFTER EXPLOSION AT LOCAL AIRPORT
Tags: us_WV, transportation, explosion, injury, oxygen
---------------------------------------------
CLEANUP SAFETY FLAWED
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/6951650/Cleanup-safety-flawed
Tags: New_Zealand, industrial, follow-up, injury, toxics
At least four workers at the toxic chemicals site in Mapua could have been made sick from working on the cleanup and they may suffer further work-related health problems, a report has revealed.
The Environment Ministry, as the main resource consent holders of the project, has accepted the report, and says it is taking steps to offer workers medical assessments.
The controversial $12 million cleanup finished five years ago and the four workers interviewed in the report have been waiting four years for acknowledgement of their health issues.
The Environment Ministry is also taking steps to contact others who worked at the site, previously considered New Zealand's most toxic, and offer them health checks. Thirty people are believed to have worked at the project.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL SPILL AT POOL SUPPLY STORE LEADS TO FLASH FIRE
http://www.mantecabulletin.com/section/1/article/43025/
Tags: us_MO, public, fire, response, unknown_chemical
A strong chemical odor inside the Leslie Pools store brought firefighters to air out the building after two employees evacuated the store shortly after 9 a.m. Thursday. A chemical fire started an hour later inside the front door.
Manteca Fire Battalion Chief David Marques held his men outside the building not knowing what caustic chemicals they were dealing with and called in the San Joaquin County Hazmat Team from Stockton. Another hazmat specialist employed by the pool company was responding from Oakland.
Firefighters had placed an exhaust fan in the doorway to draw fumes out of the building. They then stood between their engines and waited for the arrival of the hazard materials specialists.
At about 10:30 a.m. one firefighter yelled "fire". The firefighters scrambled toward the pool sales building. An immediate call to the dispatcher alerted the call center that they now had a structure fire. Another fire engine was sent to the scene not knowing what was going to develop once the chemicals started reacting with each other.
Fire Captain Rob Grycel and firefighter Brad Missouri were the first to make it to the front of the building. They grabbed the water line that had already been laid in front of the structure as a preventative measure.
A small blaze centered in and around buckets filled with calcium hypo chloride igniting nearby cardboard displays near the front window. Flames licked up the sides of the containers from the floor level. Firemen were also concerned about putting water on the fire not knowing if it would cause a chemical reaction as well.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL SENDS 5 FROM FLA AIRPORT TO HOSPITAL
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/chemical-sends-fla-airport-hospital-16383282#.T7e8cNxYu0c
Tags: us_FL, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical, irritant
A terminal at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport was closed for a time after an unknown chemical sent five people to the hospital with respiratory complaints.
Terminal 2 was evacuated for about two hours Friday as hazardous materials technicians investigated what caused several people to become ill.
The cause remains under investigation, though an airport spokesman says it appears an aerosol can discharged.
Broward County Sheriff Fire Rescue spokesman Mike Jachles says three Transportation Security Administration agents and two passengers were affected by the irritant.
Investigators collected air samples and determined it was safe for people to re-enter. More than 1,000 passengers have been delayed and several inbound flights were diverted to other airports.
---------------------------------------------
PUPILS AND STAFF EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL ALERT
http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Pupils-staff-evacuated-chemical-alert/story-16128152-detail/story.html
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, release, injury, unknown_chemical
PUPILS had to be evacuated from a secondary school after a chemical alert.
Several fire crews and a hazardous material unit were sent to the school yesterday morning after reports of fumes.
The incident involved chemicals in a science preparation room at Brine Leas school in Nantwich.
The substances which sparked the alert were removed from the building and are now being disposed of by a specialist company.
---------------------------------------------
EXPLOSION IN LEKKI
http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/news/284-breaking-news/37967-explosion-in-lekki
Tags: Nigeria, transportation, explosion, death, flammables, gas_cylinders
A tanker conveying cylinders filled with inflammable chemical exploded on the Lekki-Epe Expressway in the Shango- Tedo area of Lagos Friday morning.
An eyewitness alleged that a woman might have been killed in the explosion.
The fire service appears to have been prompt on the scene but there is no confirmation on casualties even though eye-witnesses confirm deaths.
Traffic was at a standstill.
---------------------------------------------
BOSTIK TO PAY $600,000 IN FINES FOR SAFETY INFRACTIONS AFTER EXPLOSION
http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20120518/NEWS08/120519864?tags=|305|340|84|304|92
Tags: us_MA, industrial, follow-up, injury
MIDDLETON, Mass.ÑA Massachusetts adhesive manufacturer will pay $600,000 in fines for numerous safety infractions after a March 2011 explosion that injured four workers.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration initially had sought fines in excess of $917,000 for Middleton, Mass.-based Bostik Inc. after a six-month investigation revealed several violations of the agency's rules governing the treatment of hazardous chemicals.
In a statement released Thursday, OSHA officials said the agency ultimately reduced the fine amount, in part to expedite the implementation of improved safety practices at Bostik's plant.
"This resolution speeds corrective action that might otherwise have been delayed through lengthy litigation," Michael Felsen, regional solicitor for the U.S. Department of Labor in Boston, said in the agency's statement.
According to the settlement, Bostik has agreed to certain corrective actions to address failures in its chemical safety protocols and to submit proof of those actions to OSHA.
In March 2011, an open valve resulted in the release of flammable acetone vapors, causing the explosion. Bostik since has stopped using acetone in its processing operations.
---------------------------------------------
FATAL EXPLOSION WAS A TRAGIC ACCIDENT
http://www.reviewonline.com/page/content.detail/id/555850/Fatal-explosion-was-a-tragic-accident.html?nav=5008
Tags: us_OH, public, explosion, death, acetylene
NEW CUMBERLAND - The small home at a rural crossroads in central Hancock County is where James Stanley lived and worked for many years. On Thursday, it's where he met a tragic death.
Stanley, who was in his 60s, was working on a project in his driveway with an acetylene torch Thursday afternoon when he was killed by an explosion, officials say.
"It was a bad accident - just one of those freak things that you don't see very often," Hancock County Sheriff Mike White said. "Very unfortunate."
The likely cause of death was trauma and burns from the explosion, according to the sheriff, but officials are still awaiting a ruling from the state medical examiner's office.
White said he knew Stanley as a retired man who still did work on the side with excavating equipment. Several small bulldozers and backhoes sit on his property at the remote intersection of Ballantyne and Shady Glen roads. A lone pine tree stands in his front yard.
Burn marks from the fire that claimed his life can be seen on the ground outside his garage. Police tape no longer surrounds the property, but the state fire marshal's office is continuing its investigation.
"We're not sure exactly what he was doing (with the torch)," White said. "He was cutting something."
Either flames or sparks from the torch ignited a 55-gallon drum that Stanley was standing over while he was working, White said. The drum was sealed and empty, but investigators are conducting tests to see whether vapors were the ignition source.
---------------------------------------------
NEW STUDY SHOWS THAT WORKPLACE INSPECTIONS SAVE LIVES, DON'T DESTROY JOBS
http://www.sciencecodex.com/new_study_shows_that_workplace_inspections_save_lives_dont_destroy_jobs-91744
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, injury
Research to be published in Science on May 18, 2012, sheds light on a hot-button political issue: the role and effectiveness of government regulation. Does it kill jobs or protect the public?
The new study, co-authored by Harvard Business School Professor Michael Toffel, Professor David Levine of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and Boston University doctoral student Matthew Johnson, examines workplace safety inspections conducted by California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA). The authors carried out the first evaluation of a "clinical trial" of the state's mandated randomized inspections to discern their effect on both worker safety and companies' bottom lines.
The results overturn conventional wisdom: Workplace inspections do reduce on-the-job injuries and their associated costs, and the researchers could not detect any harm to companies' performance or profits.
"The randomized inspections provided a perfect natural experiment that uses the power of randomization just like a medical clinical trial," Toffel said. "Because Cal/OSHA typically inspects facilities following complaints or recent accidents, you can't study those inspections to get an unbiased understanding of whether they make a difference. By studying the inspections Cal/OSHA conducted at workplaces selected at random, we were able to overcome this problem to learn the actual impact of inspections."
The study found that within high-hazard industries in California, inspected workplaces reduced their injury claims by 9.4 percent and saved 26 percent on workers' compensation costs in the four years following the inspection, compared to a similar set of uninspected workplaces. On average, inspected firms saved an estimated $355,000 in injury claims and compensation for paid lost work over that period. What's more, there was no discernible impact on the companies' profits.
---------------------------------------------
ONE KILLED IN FIRE AT KANDLA COMPLEX, IBN LIVE NEWS
http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/one-killed-in-fire-at-kandla-complex/999999.html
Tags: India, transportation, fire, death, unknown_chemical
Kutch, May 17 (PTI) One person was killed and two others injured when a fire broke out during unloading of chemical from a tanker at Kandla complex near the port, police said. "An inferno broke out when some chemical was being unloaded from a tanker at a terminal operated by a private firm Kesar Chemicals in Kandla complex near the port," they said. One person died and two others sustained injuries, officials said. Around ten fire fighters including those of Kandla port reached the site and brought fire under control, they said, adding the tanker and the terminal were damaged in the incident.
---------------------------------------------
PHOSPHOROUS MAY HAVE BEEN ON HOT BEACH ROCKS IN CA
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2018229022_apusfirerocks.html
Tags: us_CA, public, fire, response, phosphorus
Beach rocks that caused a California woman's shorts to catch fire and severely burn her legs and hands appeared to be coated with phosphorus, but it was unclear how the flammable chemical got onto the stones found near a military base, authorities said Thursday.
"We have never been aware of anything like this before," said Denise Fennessy, assistant director of Orange County's environmental health division.
Field tests indicated the phosphorus was found on two rocks from San Onofre State Beach that will be submitted to a state-certified laboratory for verification, Fennessy said.
A naturally occurring mineral, phosphorus is found in oxidized form in rocks, but in its pure elemental form can burn when exposed to air. Phosphorous compounds are used in everything from flares to fertilizer.
Coast Guard and fire officials, however, said they never heard of local beach rocks igniting.
---------------------------------------------
FIRE EMISSIONS CREATE ODOR
http://www.centraljersey.com/articles/2012/05/16/south_brunswick_post/news/doc4fb42ee61bea7105328898.txt
Tags: us_PA, industrial, fire, response, sulphur
A chemical fire in Bristol, Pennsylvania led several residents to contact police Wednesday complaining about a sulfur odor in the air, according to officials.
In a press release Wednesday, police said that the odor reported by residents could be traced to a chemical fire overnight at a Dow Chemical facility in Pennsylvania.The odor was reported in several central and southern New Jersey communities, according to the company.
In a statement, the company said that two holding tanks at the Rohm and Hass Bristol Plant containing two different materials, ethyl acrylate and butyl acrylate, were struck by lightning at 3:35 a.m. and ignited.
The chemicals involved are used in the manufacturing of paint, according to the company.
---------------------------------------------
LABOR DEPT. SAYS $600K SETTLEMENT REACHED WITH CHEMICAL COMPANY IN 2011 MASS. PLANT BLAST
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/ce0422e630cb44a5bcbc1547c559b174/MA--Chemical-Plant-Explosion-Settlement/
Tags: us_MA, industrial, follow-up, injury, acetone
BOSTON Ñ The Labor Department says it has reached a $600,000 settlement with adhesives manufacturer Bostik, Inc., over workplace safety citations related to a March 2011 explosion at its plant north of Boston.
Four workers had nonlife-threatening injuries. Investigators said a valve had accidentally been left open, causing acetone vapors to fill the building and ignite. The explosion rattled a surrounding neighborhood, and damaged two buildings at the plant complex in Middleton.
---------------------------------------------
WDTV.COM 5 NEWS: UPDATE: ONE FLOWN AFTER EXPLOSION AT LOCAL AIRPORT
http://www.wdtv.com/wdtv.cfm?func=view§ion=5-News&item=UPDATE-One-Flown-After-Explosion-At-Local-Airport2911
Tags: us_WV, transportation, explosion, injury, oxygen
An explosion at the North Central West Virginia Airport burned one man so bad that he was flown to West Penn Hospital Wednesday morning.
Bridgeport Police say that two KCI Aviation employees were servicing an oxygen tank on a personal aircraft around 8:45 a.m. when something malfunctioned and caused a chemical explosion.
---------------------------------------------
Previous post | Top of Page | Next post