| About This Archive | | DCHAS-L 2019 Index | | DCHAS-L Yearly Index | |
Check out Safety Emporium for your N95, N99, and face shield needs.
|
Previous by Date: Subject: [DCHAS-L] 3 sickened after being exposed to nitrogen gas at Weston ice cream shop Date: Friday, June 7, 2019 at 8:06:14 AM Author: DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG> |
Next by Date: Subject: [DCHAS-L] What is happening to the GHS SDS? Date: Sat, 8 Jun 2019 13:28:29 -0400 Author: DCHAS Membership Chair |
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, June 7, 2019 at 8:06:16 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 (15 articles)
SYSCO FOOD PLANT IN PLYMPTON EVACUATED DUE TO HYDROGEN LEAK
Tags: us_MA, industrial, release, response, hydrogen
SHELTER-IN-PLACE ADVISORY ISSUED FOR RESIDENTS NEAR COVINGTON POOL AFTER CHEMICAL ACCIDENT
Tags: us_KY, public, release, response, pool_chemicals
CHEVRON EXPLOSION: FIRM FINED å£5M
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, follow-up, death, flammables
PLEA AGREEMENT INCLUDES $2.8M FOR THOSE INJURED IN 2014 CHEMICAL BLAST
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, injury, illegal, waste
AI POSES CHALLENGE TO METHOD VALIDATION, SAYS SENIOR OECD FIGURE
Tags: Europe, public, discovery, environmental
US CHEMICAL ARMS DESTRUCTION PLANT HALTED BY SEEP FROM TANK
Tags: us_CO, industrial, release, response, waste
3 SICKENED AFTER BEING EXPOSED TO NITROGEN GAS AT WESTON ICE...
Tags: us_FL, public, release, injury, nitrogen, oxygen
HAZMAT CREW RESPONDS TO AMMONIA LEAK IN ATTLEBORO
Tags: us_MA, industrial, release, response, ammonia
TOXIC FUMES WARNING AS FACTORY GOES UP IN SMOKE
Tags: Australia, industrial, fire, response, other_chemical
CHERNOBYL WELCOMES TOURISTS BUT IT‰??S A MORALLY QUEASY EXPERIENCE
Tags: Russia, public, discovery, environmental, radiation
APS BATTERY FIRE HIGHLIGHTS SAFETY RISKS, LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
Tags: us_AZ, industrial, follow-up, injury, batteries
OSHA CITES FLORIDA FARM AFTER AMMONIA LEAK HURTS WORKER -- OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY
Tags: us_FL, industrial, follow-up, injury, ammonia
‰??DANGEROUS FOR WORKERS‰??: STUDY LOOKS AT AIR QUALITY IN COLORADO NAIL SALONS
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental, benzene, formaldehyde
HARRIS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS BACK LOCKED OUT DOW WORKERS AMID SAFETY CONCERNS
Tags: us_TX, industrial, discovery, environmental
ALARMS WERE OFF, PROTOCOL ABSENT WHEN 5 DIED IN EXPLOSIVE BLOWOUT, REPORT ON QUENTIN GAS RIG FINDS
Tags: us_OK, industrial, follow-up, death, natural_gas
---------------------------------------------
SYSCO FOOD PLANT IN PLYMPTON EVACUATED DUE TO HYDROGEN LEAK
https://www.boston25news.com/news/sysco-food-plant-in-plympton-evacuated-due-to-hydrogen-leak/956069537
Tags: us_MA, industrial, release, response, hydrogen
PLYMPTON, Mass. - A food plant had to be evacuated due to a hydrogen leak.
Hazmat teams were called to the Sysco food plant in Plympton Thursday night. Several fire trucks were also on scene.
The state fire marshal's office says it appears the leak came from a forklift.
---------------------------------------------
SHELTER-IN-PLACE ADVISORY ISSUED FOR RESIDENTS NEAR COVINGTON POOL AFTER CHEMICAL ACCIDENT
https://www.wlwt.com/article/joshuas-house-hospice-care-for-homeless/27728797
Tags: us_KY, public, release, response, pool_chemicals
OVINGTON, Ky. ‰??
A chemical accident at a Covington pool prompted a neighborhood scare Thursday afternoon.
A shelter-in-place advisory was issued briefly for Covington residents in the one-block area around Goebel Pool after pool chemicals inadvertently got mixed.
The shelter-in-place advisory has since been lifted.
"The mixture produced a small cloud of chlorine gas that was confined to the building, but we went ahead and issued the advisory as a precaution only," said Mike Bloemer, Covington Fire Department assistant chief of training and operations, who is at the scene.
The pool was not open to the public at the time, and was scheduled to open this weekend.
---------------------------------------------
CHEVRON EXPLOSION: FIRM FINED å£5M
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-wales-48544296/chevron-explosion-firm-fined-5m-after-pembroke-deaths
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, follow-up, death, flammables
Four contractors died at the Chevron Oil Refinery in 2011, after flammable gases inside a chemical storage tank they were draining ignited.
Dennis Riley, 52, Robert Broome, 48, Andrew Jenkins, 33, and Julie Jones lost their lives after the explosion in Pembroke.
A fifth employee, Andrew Phillips, was caught in the flames but survived with life-changing burns.
Chevron will have to pay a å£5m fine and court costs of å£1m as part of a deal it struck with Valero Energy UK Limited, which bought the site shortly after the disaster.
---------------------------------------------
PLEA AGREEMENT INCLUDES $2.8M FOR THOSE INJURED IN 2014 CHEMICAL BLAST
https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/local/communities/santa-paula/2019/06/06/plea-agreement-includes-2-8-m-those-injured-2014-chemical-blast/1373314001/
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, injury, illegal, waste
Santa Clara Waste Water Co. and parent company Green Compass Environmental Solutions are expected to pay nearly $2.8 million to those injured in a 2014 explosion at a wastewater facility near Santa Paula.
The restitution is part of an agreement filed Thursday between the corporations and prosecutors over the criminal case stemming from the chemical blast at 815 Mission Rock Road, according to a news release from the Ventura County District Attorney‰??s Office.
The incident left employees and first responders, many of them firefighters, with serious injuries that affected their ability to continue working, said Supervising Deputy District Attorney Dominic Kardum.
---------------------------------------------
AI POSES CHALLENGE TO METHOD VALIDATION, SAYS SENIOR OECD FIGURE
https://chemicalwatch.com/78459/ai-poses-challenge-to-method-validation-says-senior-oecd-figure
Tags: Europe, public, discovery, environmental
The incorporation of artificial intelligence, or machine learning, into in silico methods of hazard prediction presents a new validation challenge, according to a senior OECD figure.
At the Helsinki Chemicals Forum on 31 May, Bob Diderich, head of the OECD‰??s environmental health and safety division, which runs the test guidelines programme, said that he did not yet have an answer.
Developers of in silico methods are increasingly working with machine learning because of the possibilities it raises. In theory, methods incorporating this technology improve as they are used because the underlying algorithm changes constantly in response to new data.
Mr Diderich said that the OECD has been working on validation of in silico methods for several years with the aim of increasing use and acceptance for regulatory purposes.
"What's the kind of validation that we need and who's going to do it? Can we have something for Qsars [quantitative structure-activity relationships] that is similar to what we have today for laboratory test methods?" he said. "The conclusion of that discussion was these methods evolve way too fast. By the time we've put a stamp on it, there's another model that is way better."
---------------------------------------------
US CHEMICAL ARMS DESTRUCTION PLANT HALTED BY SEEP FROM TANK
https://www.citynews1130.com/2019/06/06/us-chemical-arms-destruction-plant-halted-by-seep-from-tank/
Tags: us_CO, industrial, release, response, waste
PUEBLO, Colo. ‰?? An Army facility in southern Colorado has temporarily stopped destroying obsolete chemical weapons because of liquid hazardous waste seeping from a storage tank.
Officials said Thursday the liquid is a byproduct of the destruction process at the Pueblo Chemical Depot and contains no chemical weapons. They say less than 8 ounces (237 millilitres) seeped out.
The seepage was discovered May 15. The cause is under investigation.
Destruction is expected to resume in mid-June.
The depot is eradicating a stockpile of 780,000 shells containing 2,500 U.S. tons (2,270 metric tons) of mustard agent. Since starting in 2016, the plant has eliminated 132,000 shells and 774 U.S. tons (702 metric tons) of mustard.
---------------------------------------------
3 SICKENED AFTER BEING EXPOSED TO NITROGEN GAS AT WESTON ICE...
https://www.local10.com/news/florida/weston/multiple-exposed-to-nitrogen-gas-weston-ice-cream-shop
Tags: us_FL, public, release, injury, nitrogen, oxygen
WESTON, Fla. - Two employees fell ill and a deputy with the Broward Sheriff's Office was treated after being exposed to nitrogen gas at a Weston ice cream shop, according to Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue.
Fire Rescue received a call after 4 p.m. from employees who were complaining of dizziness, officials said. The Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream shop is located in the 2200 block of Weston Road.
Officials said firefighters arrived and found one person already unresponsive and another in distress.
The release of nitrogen likely happened so quickly that employees could not escape the business before collapsing, according to Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue. Officials said evidence of the release could be seen on the iced-over storefront windows.
The ice cream parlor uses nitrogen as a freezing agent in preparation of their desserts, officials said.
"Nitrogen is an inert gas, meaning it doesn't chemically react with other gases and generally isn't toxic," Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue said in a release. "But breathing pure nitrogen could be deadly because the gas displaces oxygen and could lead to suffocation of the victim. In high concentrations, unconsciousness can occur within one or two breaths, according to the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board."
Officials said BSFR's hazardous materials team stopped the leak, which was emanating from a large storage tank.
Ventilation of the structure is in progress but it likely will not be allowed to reopen until a professional service team responds to repair the nitrogen tank assembly, officials said.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT CREW RESPONDS TO AMMONIA LEAK IN ATTLEBORO
https://turnto10.com/news/local/crews-work-potential-hazmat-scene-in-attleboro
Tags: us_MA, industrial, release, response, ammonia
Police and fire crews responded to a hazmat incident in Attleboro involving spilled ammonia Wednesday.
According to officials, a pressurized 500-gallon tank of ammonia sprang a leak at 90 Oneil Boulevard around 7:00 in the morning.
Officials say 2 employees were treated after smelling something pungent but did not require to be transported for additional treatment.
The leak was discovered immediately when employees came to work and officials say the scene was under control in about an hour and a half.
An NBC 10 crew observed a hazmat team on the scene along with multiple units from the Attleboro Police and Fire Department.
---------------------------------------------
TOXIC FUMES WARNING AS FACTORY GOES UP IN SMOKE
https://www.communitynews.com.au/southern-gazette/news/kewdale-business-goes-up-in-smoke/
Tags: Australia, industrial, fire, response, other_chemical
A PACKAGING plant in Kewdale is ablaze, sending a massive plume of potentially dangerous smoke into the sky.
A total of 30 firefighters are tackling the fire, on the corner of Norlin Street and Glassford Road, near the Kewdale Road and Tonkin Highway intersection.
ChemCentre and the Department of Environment and Regulation Pollution Response Unit are providing technical support to the Department of Fire and Emergency Services.
Plastic products inside the factory were ablaze.
Surrounding businesses self evacuated.
Motorists are asked to avoid the area, reduce speed and be aware of fire and other emergency services personnel.
---------------------------------------------
CHERNOBYL WELCOMES TOURISTS BUT IT‰??S A MORALLY QUEASY EXPERIENCE
https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/europe/chernobyl-welcomes-tourists-but-it-s-a-morally-queasy-experience-1.3916738
Tags: Russia, public, discovery, environmental, radiation
Last November, I stood in the forest of Pripyat - the town that was evacuated after the Chernobyl reactor exploded 2km away in 1986 - being alternately laughed at and shouted at by Ukrainian soldiers. I was wearing the faintly ludicrous hazmat suit I had been compelled to don when getting off the tour bus, idly dragging my uncovered hands over the top of a little bramble bush. Touching anything at all isn‰??t allowed in Pripyat. I was in trouble.
Chernobyl was once a destination exclusively for extreme-disaster tourists, but it has gradually opened up, with affordable tours and basic accommodation readily available. Interest in the site has grown hugely in the wake of the HBO show Chernobyl, which dramatises the aftermath of the reactor disaster and has quickly become a smash hit (on IMDb, it is currently the highest-audience-rated show of all time). The main tour operator for the area, Explore, has said that bookings were up 40 per cent last month compared with May last year.
---------------------------------------------
APS BATTERY FIRE HIGHLIGHTS SAFETY RISKS, LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/not-all-batteries-are-made-equal-aps-battery-fire-highlights-safety-ris/555185/
Tags: us_AZ, industrial, follow-up, injury, batteries
The recent explosion at an Arizona battery storage facility that injured four firefighters has put a renewed spotlight on battery safety. While the cause of the April 19 incident at Arizona Public Service's (APS) McMicken storage facility remains under investigation, the industry is trying to find the right balance between rapid expansion and safety.
"The investigation will help us learn from what happened, so we can apply those lessons to our existing and future clean-energy projects," Suzanne Trevino, spokeswoman for APS, told Utility Dive.
The Phoenix-based utility is collaborating with first responders, manufacturers, third-party engineers and safety experts during its investigation. The original battery supplier at the Arizona facility was AES Energy Storage, which is now part of Fluence.
"We intend to pursue ... battery storage. This hasn't changed our determination to move forward on that."
Jeff Guldner
President, APS
"Safety is the top priority across the entire electric industry given the inherently hazardous nature of working with high-voltage electricity," John Zahurancik, chief operating officer at Fluence, told Utility Dive in an email. "Safety concerns for energy storage systems are similar to those for any other complex electrical system. ... Regarding the incident at the APS facility in April, ... we intend to share any learnings that we can, especially material and findings helpful to the entire industry and response agencies."
---------------------------------------------
OSHA CITES FLORIDA FARM AFTER AMMONIA LEAK HURTS WORKER -- OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY
https://ohsonline.com/articles/2019/06/05/osha-cites-florida-farm-after-ammonia-leak-hurts-worker.aspx?m=1
Tags: us_FL, industrial, follow-up, injury, ammonia
OSHA has cited Duda Farm Fresh Foods Inc., based in Belle Glade, Fla., for exposing employees to workplace safety hazards after a worker required medical treatment due to an anhydrous ammonia leak in the farm's packaging house. The company faces $95,472 in proposed penalties.
OSHA cited the farm for failing to develop procedures for notifying employees of emergencies and evacuation, and a written emergency response plan; and failing to provide safety and health training to employees operating ammonia refrigeration systems and ensure that employees required to respond to ammonia releases were provided a full-face respirator fit test.
---------------------------------------------
‰??DANGEROUS FOR WORKERS‰??: STUDY LOOKS AT AIR QUALITY IN COLORADO NAIL SALONS
https://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/18527-dangerous-for-workers-study-looks-at-air-quality-in-colorado-nail-salons
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental, benzene, formaldehyde
Boulder, CO ‰?? The amount of air pollutants in nail salons can make working in one comparable to working at an oil refinery or in an auto repair garage, according to a study from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Researchers from the university‰??s department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering monitored levels of volatile organic compounds in six nail salons in the state. Workers studied averaged 52.5 hours a week, and some worked as many as 80 hours.
The most common chemicals salon workers were exposed to were formaldehyde, toluene, benzene, xylenes and ethylbenzene. All six salons had higher-than-expected levels of benzene, which has been linked to leukemia and other cancers of blood cells, according to the American Cancer Society. In one salon, the formaldehyde levels exceeded NIOSH recommendations for exposure limit.
The researchers found that 70% of the workers experienced at least one health issue from the chemical exposures, with headaches (22%), skin irritation (16%) and eye irritation (14%) the most commonly reported.
Chronic air pollution can cause health problems, including an increased risk for cancers such as leukemia and Hodgkin‰??s lymphoma. The researchers said salon workers face a lifetime cancer risk up to 100 times higher than baseline EPA-issued levels.
---------------------------------------------
HARRIS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS BACK LOCKED OUT DOW WORKERS AMID SAFETY CONCERNS
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Harris-County-commissioner-back-locked-out-Dow-13938725.php
Tags: us_TX, industrial, discovery, environmental
With the Dow Chemical lockout in Deer Park stretching into its sixth week, Harris County commissioners have thrown their weight behind the 235 chemical union members out of work.
Commissioners Tuesday passed a resolution expressing support for United Steelworkers union Local 13-1 and encouraging Dow and its subsidiary Rohm & Haas Texas Inc. to return to bargaining.
Commissioner Adrian Garcia, who proposed the resolution, said he was concerned about the safety of the plant, which operating with substitute workers who union members argue aren't as experienced in operating the site.
Garcia said the resolution wasn't met to be hostile to business, but rather said "this is about safety."
"When we have issues out in the community and when it's issues related to safety and well-being of our industry and workforce, it is important for our county to take a position and just speak to the issues," Garcia said in Tuesday's Harris County Commission meeting.
Garcia added that workers at the plant are "forced to work on exhausting hours and exhausting schedules that can cause fatigue and increase the risk of accident ‰?? and we've already seen too well ... when those accidents happen the challenges that occur."
---------------------------------------------
ALARMS WERE OFF, PROTOCOL ABSENT WHEN 5 DIED IN EXPLOSIVE BLOWOUT, REPORT ON QUENTIN GAS RIG FINDS
https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/state-and-regional/federal-report-alarms-were-off-and-proper-operations-absent-on/article_b9f7437e-a800-544d-9456-a378d60ac60c.html
Tags: us_OK, industrial, follow-up, death, natural_gas
A myriad of operational and safety management problems are among the findings of federal investigators who probed a natural gas drilling rig explosion that killed five workers in Pittsburg County in January 2018.
Among the key findings from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board were:
‰?¢ The alarm system was off.
‰?¢ Systems to prevent gas entering the well and a blowout were poorly managed.
‰?¢ Gas influx indicators either elicited an inadequate response or went unrecognized.
The federal agency will release its final report during a news conference in Oklahoma City at 9 a.m. June 12, but it put out a brief overview of ‰??key issues‰?? raised by its investigation on Wednesday.
A Chemical Safety Board investigation update in August noted that ‰??strong indications‰?? of a hazardous influx of gas existed at least a half hour before the explosion. And an indicator of conditions conducive to a blowout showed a level 10 to 20 times greater than general industry standards that would trigger alarms, the agency‰??s lead investigator stated.
---------------------------------------------
---
For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional membership chair at membership**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas
Previous post | Top of Page | Next post