1. INTRODUCTION
A chemical accident is the unintentional release of one or more hazardous substances which could harm human health or the environment. Chemical hazards are systems where chemical accidents could occur under certain circumstances. Such events include fires, explosions, leakages, or releases of toxic or hazardous materials that can cause people illness, injury, disability, or death. While chemical accidents may occur whenever toxic materials are stored, transported, or used, the most severe accidents are industrial accidents, involving major chemical manufacturing and storage facilities. The most significant chemical accident in recorded history was the1984 Bhopal disaster in India, in which more than 3,000 people were killed after a highly toxic vapor was released at a Union Carbide pesticide factory.
2. CAUSATIVE FACTORS LEADING TO CHEMICAL ACCIDENTS
Chemical and industrial emergencies may arise in a number of ways:
disaster/explosion in a plant handling or producing toxic substances
accidents in storage facilities handling large and various quantities of chemicals
accidents during the transportation of chemicals from one site to another
misuse of chemicals, resulting in contamination of food stocks or the environment, overdosing of
agrochemicals
improper waste management such as uncontrolled dumping of toxic chemicals, failure in waste management
systems or accidents in wastewater treatment plants
technological system failures
failures of plant safety design or plant components
natural hazards such as fire, earthquakes, landslides
arson and sabotage
3. SAFETY IN CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES
3.1. Hazards of chemicals used in the process
People working in chemical factories and dwellings nearby are exposed to various types of chemical hazards. Inflammable, explosive, toxic, corrosive, reactive, radioactive, oxidizing, reducing, decomposing, compatible and hidden hazardous nature of chemicals pose a material or property hazards. In the process, chemical and physical change, chemical reaction, pressure, temperature, level, flow, quantity and other parameters create process hazards. The vessels and equipment in which the chemicals are stored, handled or processed, pose vessel hazards. The inadequate,, defective, under-designed or wrongly modified control devices or failure thereof cause control hazards. Fire or explosion causes fire hazards. Effluent disposal and gaseous emissions bring pollution and toxic hazards. Leaks, spills, and splashes cause handling hazards. Absence, non-use or failure of firefighting equipment, personal protective equipment, emergency control devices reveal accident and emergency hazards. All other unsafe working conditions and unsafe actions pose a variety of hazards that all need to be prevented and controlled.Many safety measures are available to deal with the above hazards. Identification of contents, properties, hazards, and quantity of chemicals, their content minimization, proper storing, handling and packing; auto control, recording and warning devices for level, pressure, vacuum, temperature, flow, feed, speed, cooling, heating, stirring, discharge, contamination; remote control devices, proper ventilating, exhaust, scrubbing, neutralizing, inactivating and incinerating devices; monitoring, measuring, recording, tripping, correcting and controlling system, fire fighting and personal protective equipment, emergency and disaster planning, controls and all engineering well-designed process and plant layout and safe actions of the workforce are utmost necessary to fight these hazards and to control them.
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