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. An example is the

introduction of hydrocarbon methyl that increases the risk of heart cancer because it changes the way

blood cells flow through the body.[1]

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 the 1984 Bhopal disaster in India, in which

more than 3,000 people were killed after a highly toxic vapour, (methyl isocyanate), was released at

a Union Carbide pesticides factory.

Efforts to prevent accidents range from improved safety systems to fundamental changes in chemical use

and manufacture, referred to as primary prevention or inherent safety.

In the United States, concern about chemical accidents after the Bhopal disaster led to the passage of the

1986 Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. The EPCRA requires

local emergency planning efforts throughout the country, including emergency notifications. The law also

requires companies to make publicly available information about their storage of toxic chemicals. Based

on such information, citizens can identify the vulnerable zones in which severe toxic releases could cause

harm or death.

In 1990, the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board was established by Congress, though the

CSB did not become operational until 1998. The Board's mission is to determine the root causes of

chemical accidents and issue safety recommendations to prevent future Safety Performance Indicators. It

also organizes workshops on a number of issues related to preparing for, preventing, and responding to

chemical accidents.[2]

In the European Union, incidents such as the Flixborough disaster and the Seveso disaster led to

legislation such as the Seveso Directive and Seveso planning and provide for safety reports to local

authorities. Many countries have organisations that can assist with substance risk assessment and

emergency planning that is required by a wide variety of legislation, such as the National Chemical

Emergency Centre in the UK, Brandweerinformatiecentrum voor gevaarlijke stoffen/Fire service

information centre for dangerous goods in Belgium.

In the UK, the UK Chemical Reaction Hazards Forum publishes reports of accidents on its web site.

[3] These accidents were, at the time, minor in nature, but they could have escalated into major accidents.

It is hoped that publishing these incidents will prevent "Re-inventing the Wheel". At present, (Dec 2008),

there are over 140 articles on the web site.

List of industrial disastersFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article lists notable industrial disasters, which are disasters caused by industrial companies, either by

accident, negligence or incompetence. They are a form of industrial accident where great damage, injury or

loss of life are caused.

Other disasters can also be considered industrial disaster, if their causes are rooted in the products or

processes of industry. For example, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was made more severe due to the heavy

concentration of lumber industry, wood houses, fuel and other chemicals in a small area. Some can be related

to engineering disasters when shortcuts in engineering design to reduce costs of construction and fabrication

leads to unexpected design failures.

The Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents is designed to protect people and the

environment from industrial accidents. The Convention aims to prevent accidents from occurring, to reduce

their frequency and severity, and to mitigate their effects. The Convention addresses primarily industrial

accidents in one country that affect the population or the environment of another country. The Convention was

drafted following the Seveso disaster and Sandoz disaster.

Defense industry[edit]

August 9, 1965: Little Rock AFB in Searcy, Arkansas. 53 contract workers were killed during a fire at

a Titan missile silo. The cause of the fire was determined to be a welding rod damaging a hydraulic hose

allowing hydraulic vapors to leak and spread throughout the silo, and ignited by an open flame.

April 10, 1988: Ojhri Camp. A military storage center in Rawalpindi Pakistan exploded, killing more than

1,300 people.

July 11, 2011: Evangelos Florakis Naval Base explosion Cyprus. A munitions dump explosion. 13 people

were killed; among them the captain of the base, twin brothers who were serving there as marines, and

four firefighters.

Energy industry[edit.)

March 2011: Fukushima I nuclear accidents in Japan. Regarded as the largest nuclear disaster since the

Chernobyl disaster, there were no direct deaths but a few of the plant's workers were severely injured or

killed by the disaster conditions resulting from the earthquake.

October 29, 2012: Hurricane Sandy caused a ConEdison power plant to explode, causing a blackout in

most of Midtown Manhattan. The blue light emitted from the arc made places as far as Brooklyn glow. No

person was killed or injured.

July 6, 2013: Lac-Mégantic, Quebec Canada. Lac-Mégantic derailment. Forty seven people were killed

when there was a derailment of an oil shipment train. The oil shipment caught fire, exploded and more

than thirty buildings were destroyed. It is the fourth deadliest rail accident in Canadian history.

Food industry

February 7, 2008: The 2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion in Port Wentworth, Georgia, United States.

Thirteen people were killed and 42 injured when a dust explosion occurred at a sugar refinery owned

by Imperial Sugar.

March 12, 2008: Morin-Heights, Quebec, Canada. A roof collapse in the Gourmet du Village bakery

warehouse killed three women workers.[13]

See Also Grain elevator explosions

Manufacturing industry

May 10, 1993: Kader Toy Factory fire. A fire started in a poorly built factory in Thailand. Exit doors were

locked and the stairwell collapsed. 188 workers were killed, mostly young women.

May 13, 2000: Enschede fireworks disaster. A fire and explosion at a fireworks depot in Enschede,

Netherlands resulted in 22 deaths and another 947 were injured. About 1,500 homes are damaged or

destroyed. The damage is estimated to be over US$ 300 million in insured losses.

April 18, 2007: Qinghe Special Steel Corporation disaster. A ladle holding molten steel separated from the

overhead iron rail, fell, tipped, and killed 32 workers, injuring another 6.

February 1, 2008: Istanbul fireworks explosion. An unlicensed fireworks factory exploded accidentally,

leaving by some reports at least 22 people dead and at least 100 injured.

September 11, 2012: Karachi, Pakistan, 289 people died in a fire at the Ali Enterprises garment factory,

which made ready-to-wear clothing for Western export.

November 24, 2012: Dhaka Tasreen Fashions fire. A seven story factory fire outside of Dhaka, the capital

of Bangladesh, killed at least 112 people, 12 from jumping out of windows to escape the blaze.

April 24, 2013: 2013 Savar building collapse. An eight story factory building collapse on the outskirts

of Dhaka, the capital ofBangladesh, killed 1129 people.[15] The building contained five garment factories

that were manufacturing clothing for the western market.[16]

Mining indusryMarch 10, 1906: Courrières mine disaster in Courrières, France. 1,099 workers died,

including children, in the worst mine accident in Europe.

January 30, 2000: Baia Mare cyanide spill took place in Baia Mare, Romania. The accident, called the

worst environmental disaster in Europe since Chernobyl, was a release of 100,000 tons of cyanide

contaminated water by an Aurul mining company due to reservoir broke into the

rivers Someş, Tisza and Danube. Although no human fatalities were reported, the leak killed up to 80% of

aquatic life of some of the affected rivers.

April 5, 2010: Upper Big Branch Mine disaster, West Virginia, United States. An explosion occurred in

Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch coal. Twenty-nine out of thirty-one miners at the site were killed.[17]

November 19, 2010: Pike River Mine disaster in New Zealand. At 3:45pm, the coal mine exploded.

Twenty-nine men underground died immediately, or shortly afterwards, from the blast or from the toxic

atmosphere. Two men in the stone drift, some distance from the mine workings, managed to escape.

(Extract from Royal Commission of Enquiry Report on Pike River.)

Other industrial disasters[edit]

September 21, 2001: Toulouse, France. An explosion at the AZF fertilizer factory killed 29 and injured

2,500. Extensive structural damage to nearby neighbourhoods.

October 19, 2009: Ottawa, Canada. An explosion at the Cliff Central Heating and Cooling Plant. The

explosion of a boiler killed one person and three others suffered injuries.[23]

October 4, 2010: Alumina plant accident. Ajka, Kolontár, Devecser and several other

settlements, Hungary. The dam of Magyar Aluminium Zrt.'s red mud reservoir broke and the escaping

highly toxic and alkaline (~pH 13) sludge flooded several settlements. There were nine victims including a

young girl and hundreds of injuries (mostly chemical burns).

January 20, 2012:Burns Lake, British Columbia, Canada. At a wood mill two workers were killed and 20

others injured in a fire and explosion. A combustible dust environment lead to the explosion and fire.[24]

November 8, 2012: Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Two people died and 19 were injured in an industrial

processing plant belonging to Neptune Technologies & Bioressources, a manufacturer of health care

products.[25]

April 17, 2013: Fertiziler plant explosion in West, Texas, an explosion occurred at the West Fertilizer

Company storage and distribution facility in West, Texas, 18 miles (29 km) north of Waco while emergency

services personnel were responding to a fire at the facility. At least 14 people were killed, more than 160

were injured and more than 150 buildings were damaged or destroyed.

June 20, 2013: Coteau-du-lac, Quebec, Canada. Two women were killed in a fireworks warehouse

explosion.[26]

The explosive effect of accidents in the chemical industry29 March 2010 00:00 Source:ICIS Chemical Business

Accidents in the chemical industry can have a devastating impact - and lead to changes in legislation

IT TAKES a matter of seconds to sully the reputation of the chemical sector.

Despite producers boasting an enviable safety record compared with most other major industries, a solitary accident can send shockwaves around the globe and have major repercussions that linger for years to come.The very nature of the chemicals handled or produced at these sites means that every incident can be potentially fatal. It also resulted into ill health and the severity can be marked for years.

. Just look at the number of victims - the death toll and the huge number of injuries - as well as awareness to the public," he says.

The pollution of the Rhine following the Schweisehalle, Switzerland, incident in 1986 emphasised the need to tighten the existing legislation further, adds Christou.

"It was after Bhopal that the industry established the Responsible Care program, and the authorities developed the Risk Management Program rule in the US and the Seveso II directive in Europe [in 1996]..

Preparedness

Communication underlies the work of this period. During the pre-disaster

phase, people and organizations should collect information, and put it to use

while they learn to work together, if they are to create effective .

Information must also be collected about the resources available to respond. The organizations which should be involved at this stage include public and private agencies devoted to emergency responses, such as the fire and police departments, civil

defence; relief agencies such as the Red Cross; hospitals,144 Methods for Assessing and Reducing Injury from Chemical Accidents ambulance and other medical services; the mass communications media;

The preparedness stage involves a high degree of coordination and cooperation among all these agencies, because preparedness plans are not simply formal written documents, but rather involve: 'all those documents, activities, practices, formal and informal agreements, and associated social arrangements.

Whether to Warn :Unless the danger is very serious, clear and imminent, this decision will be based upon probabilistic, often ambiguous information. How likely it is that there will be an impact with serious consequences if there is no warning, has to be balanced against the disruption, 'the loss of time and money. . .

What is a Good Warningtwo pieces of information: '(1) the existence of danger, and (2) what can be done to reduce the effect of danger.