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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, October 7, 2015 at 7:04:12 AM
A membership benefit of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
All article summaries and tags are archived at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__pinboard.in_u-3Adchas&d=BQIFaQ&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=XIfLzye4Rdlw0vWY1VK5ZZA01HOay-EUCMkdIliTS-A&s=GCq98O70hpv5itqgPKyQuYtJX6UvG2L7z83_O0I7ubs&e=
Table of Contents (11 articles)
CHEMICAL SPILL AT BC CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL CONTAINED
Tags: Canada, laboratory, release, response, formaldehyde
SOUTH AFRICA: FREAK ACCIDENT LEAVES 'HERO' WITH FIRST DEGREE BURNS
Tags: South_Africa, public, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
2 INJURED IN FIRE AT MEAD CHEMICAL PLANT
Tags: us_CO, industrial, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
FIRE NEAR SHELL CHEMICAL PLANT SENDS SMOKE INTO AIR
Tags: us_TX, industrial, fire, response, resin
NEARLY A DOZEN PEOPLE TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER AMMONIA LEAK
Tags: us_IA, industrial, release, injury, ammonia
PASADENA PLANT TO RESTART LESS THAN WEEK AFTER EXPLOSION
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, injury, other_chemical
EXPLOSION IN CHINA CHEMICAL PLANT INJURES 7 WORKERS
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, injury, flammables, toxics
CHEMICAL LEAK CAUSES PARTIAL EVACUATION AT BETH ISRAEL IN MILTON
Tags: us_MA, public, release, response, ethylene_glycol
EMPLOYEE INFECTED WHILE WORKING AT WINNIPEG DISEASE LAB HAD VIRTUALLY NO SAFETY TRAINING: REPORT
Tags: Canada, laboratory, release, injury, other_chemical
THREE WORKERS HOSPITALISED AFTER MYSTERY CHEMICAL INCIDENT
Tags: New_Zealand, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
HUNDREDS EVACUATE DUNEDIN CADBURY FACTORY AFTER 'AMMONIA CLOUD'
Tags: New_Zealand, industrial, release, response, ammonia
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CHEMICAL SPILL AT BC CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL CONTAINED
Tags: Canada, laboratory, release, response, formaldehyde
A chemical spill of a highly flammable substance at the BC Children's Hospital laboratory has been cleaned and contained.
The Provincial Health Services Authority says no one was injured, but the Children and Family Research Institute was evacuated.
Vancouver Fire sent a hazmat team to contain the the paraformaldehyde spill in the 900 block of 28th Avenue.
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SOUTH AFRICA: FREAK ACCIDENT LEAVES 'HERO' WITH FIRST DEGREE BURNS
Tags: South_Africa, public, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
These were the words of Melanie Spoors, who watched her fianc̩, Ivan van der Walt, vault their wall and rush towards a blaze that threatened to engulf a neighbour's home in Sarnia.
His efforts to douse the fire with a garden hose proved fruitless, so he grabbed what he thought was a bucket of water and flung it into the fire.
But the "water" was actually a chemical substance and it exploded back onto Van der Walt.
Covered in the searing heat, he plunged into a nearby swimming pool.
Speaking to News24, Spoors said her husband-to-be sustained first-degree burns across his body and was in a lot of pain, but was "okay".
"I was on the other side of the fence, so what happened is still a blur to me. When we saw their house was on fire, he jumped over the wall and went around the side of the house where the kitchen is.
"He picked up a container with chemicals and threw it onto the fire, thinking it was water. There was an explosion and it blew back over him. He was smart and jumped into the swimming pool."
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2 INJURED IN FIRE AT MEAD CHEMICAL PLANT
Tags: us_CO, industrial, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
Several fire departments responded early Tuesday morning to a blaze started at the Boulder Scientific Company complex in Mead when chemicals burst into flames during processing.
Two employees were taken to a hospital and treated for minor, first-degree burns, said Battalion Chief Robert Coffey of Mountain View Fire Rescue.
"It was not a large body of fire but the location called for an abundance of caution," Coffey said. "We brought way more resources than we would if this was a fire in a field."
The plant costume makes chemicals for various industries, he said.
The first call from staff at the chemical complex came in at 12:21 a.m., Coffey said. A container of lithium salts had caught on fire. Efforts to put the fire out with fire extinguishers hadn't worked
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FIRE NEAR SHELL CHEMICAL PLANT SENDS SMOKE INTO AIR
Tags: us_TX, industrial, fire, response, resin
DEER PARK, TX -- Shell officials say they helped extinguish a fire that erupted at a plant near its Deer Park Chemical Plant.
A piece of equipment caught fire at 6:35pm inside one of the resin units at Hexion, a third party operator that makes plastic. But Shell's emergency response team responded to the fire because the oil giant is locked into a mutual aid agreement with Hexion.
No one was injured and there was no chemical release as a result of the fire.
"Shell would like to thank our outstanding emergency response personnel for their quick and comprehensive response to this issue. The top priority of Shell Deer Park is to operate in a safe and environmentally sound manner," the company said in a statement.
Officials say there was no risk to the community at any point. The fire was tapped out and the cleaning process is underway.
Late Tuesday, Hexion issued a statement, which read in part:
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NEARLY A DOZEN PEOPLE TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER AMMONIA LEAK
Tags: us_IA, industrial, release, injury, ammonia
GRINNELL, Iowa ‰??An ammonia leak at a food service plant sent almost a dozen people to the hospital Monday evening.
The Grinnell Fire Department and a hazmat crew were dispatched to the PurFoods plant in Grinnell about 4:30 p.m. after employees reported smelling a sharp odor and some were experiencing breathing problems.
Officials said 11 people were transported to a local hospital, a few of whom had severe breathing difficulties.
Crews determined ammonia leaked from a refrigeration unit in the plant. Ammonia is a strong gas that can cause poisoning if inhaled.
Officials said the plant should open again by the end of the night.
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PASADENA PLANT TO RESTART LESS THAN WEEK AFTER EXPLOSION
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, injury, other_chemical
A Pasadena chemical plant where four workers suffered burns in an explosion on Friday will resume full operations this week, a company official said, with little elaboration on what safeguards are in place to protect workers and the community at a facility with a history of accidents, fires and injuries.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration "released the Pasadena facility to resume operation," SunEdison spokesman Gordon Handelsman wrote in an email to reporters on Saturday.
But OSHA, which is still investigating the incident, doesn't have the authority to shut a plant down, so it was up to the company to decide when to restart. Chemical safety experts said investigating a root cause and protecting against repeat accidents typically takes much longer than a week, especially if a company has had a history of problems.
The SunEdison plant has previously had issues with leaking gases, the cause the company appears to be eyeing in Friday's blast, according to a company report to Harris County officials.
"You can replace a valve and have the confidence to start up again," said Shakeel Kadri, executive director of the Center for Chemical Process Safety, "but if you've had multiple issues with leaking valves, it can be a false confidence."
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EXPLOSION IN CHINA CHEMICAL PLANT INJURES 7 WORKERS
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, injury, flammables, toxics
Seven workers were injured today in an explosion at a chemical plant in China's Zhejiang Province, officials said, just weeks after massive blasts in the northern port city of Tianjin killed 173 people.
The blast occurred this morning at Zhejiang Hongxiang Chemical Co. Ltd, in Shangyu City, the local authorities said.
Two of the injured are in a serious condition, they said.
About 70 firefighters and 22 fire engines were rushed to put out the blaze and prevent the flames from reaching a nearby warehouse containing 50 tonnes of inflammable chemicals, including sodium chlorate.
The disaster sparked widespread outrage over alleged safety violations and fears of pollutants contaminating the air and water.
Several cases of explosions in chemical plants have been reported in recent months in China including the massive explosions at a warehouse in Tianjin where highly toxic chemicals including stockpiles of cyanide were stored.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL LEAK CAUSES PARTIAL EVACUATION AT BETH ISRAEL IN MILTON
Tags: us_MA, public, release, response, ethylene_glycol
Officials are cleaning up a chemical leak that caused a brief, partial evacuation of Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Milton Monday morning.
The leak of propylene glycol was found at about 9:45 a.m. in the sub-basement, which is used for facilities and administrative departments, but not patient care, said Laureane Marquez, a spokeswoman for the hospital. Nobody was injured.
The leak led to the precautionary evacuation of about 40 people from ground level floors above the leak. The incident only affected an outpatient area of the radiology department. There was no disruption to inpatient facilities.
Everyone affected went to other locations in the hospital. All were allowed back onto the floors about 15 minutes later, when officials confirmed the spill was contained.
---------------------------------------------
EMPLOYEE INFECTED WHILE WORKING AT WINNIPEG DISEASE LAB HAD VIRTUALLY NO SAFETY TRAINING: REPORT
Tags: Canada, laboratory, release, injury, other_chemical
A worker and supervisor at Canada‰??s world-renowned disease lab in Winnipeg had virtually no safety training before the employee was infected with one of the diseases he handled, says a damning investigation into the incident.
Obtained by the National Post under access to information legislation, it was one of several reports the Public Health Agency of Canada prepared over the last few years on a rare but striking occurrence: researchers sickened by the infectious diseases they experiment on or test.
The contaminated technician recovered within a week; what seemed more significant were the shortcomings uncovered by the investigation, including a lack of any formal or mandatory safety instruction in the lab.
‰??The supervisor had never attended (bio-safety cabinet) training, biological and chemical spill training or general laboratory safety training,‰?? said the agency review.
There wasn‰??t enough time to both train and complete other tasks
‰??The supervisor said that there wasn‰??t enough time to both train and complete other tasks.‰??
---------------------------------------------
THREE WORKERS HOSPITALISED AFTER MYSTERY CHEMICAL INCIDENT
Tags: New_Zealand, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
Palmerston North Hospital's main entrance was cordoned off after an unidentified chemical was brought to the front doors by contaminated workers.
Fire service assistant area commander Rodger Calder said three workers had reported feeling a "burning" sensation before driving themselves to hospital about 3.30pm on Monday.
They had been working on a transformer board that was removed in Kimbolton when they contaminated their clothing with an unidentified chemical, he said.
Firefighters are believed to be at the scene of an incident at Palmerston North Hospital.
Calder said the men had driven themselves to hospital, leaving the board in the back of the ute, after they started to have a reaction to the chemical.
No one was evacuated from the hospital but the three workers were admitted to the emergency department with some form of chemical contamination.
Calder said firefighters ensured the area was safe before they flushed out the area and decontaminated their staff.
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HUNDREDS EVACUATE DUNEDIN CADBURY FACTORY AFTER 'AMMONIA CLOUD'
Tags: New_Zealand, industrial, release, response, ammonia
Cadbury had launched an internal investigation into an ammonia leak which caused a factory evacuation and several central Dunedin streets to be shutdown.
Hundreds of workers were evacuated from the Cadbury factory and neighbouring businesses after the incident at 1.17pm on Monday.
A spokeswoman for the company, Celin Huseby of Mondelez Australia Pty Ltd, confirmed it had reported the leak of ammonia, which was used as a cleaning agent within the plant.
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