제 목 : OSHA May Expand Chemicals Watch List
일 자 : 1998년 01월
제공처 : Safety + Health(OSHA Update)
< OSHA May Expand Chemicals Watch List >
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OSHA may add more reactive chemicals to the list of those covered by its
process safety management standard.
Concern about such chemicals grew out of a 1995 fire and explosion
at a Napp Technologies Inc. chemicals plant in Lodi, N.J., that killed
five workers. The catastrophe damaged most of the plant, destroyed or
damaged nearby businesses, forced many nearby residents to evacuate,
and led to the release of thousands of gallons of chemicals into streets and
the Saddle River.
In an investigative report by OSHA and the Environmental Pro-
tection Agency, the first joint report of its kind, the two agencies cited
inadequate process hazards analysis as one cause of the explosion. Two
"highly water-reactive chemicals" involved in the tragedy weren't on
the list covered by the PSM standard. The report attributed the likely
cause of the fire and explosion to the chemicals having mixed with water
and heat.
Eric Frumin,occupational safety and health Director for UNITS, the
union that represented the Lodi workers, faulted the report. Frumin
says the agencies should have taken Napp management to task : The com-
pany sent workers back into the plant to remove chemicals affer their
initial evacuation and those workers were killed in an explosion.
According to a Napp spokesman, the report matched the
company's own investigation. It included a discovery that Napp wasn't
told about a potential for failure of a water-cooled chemical-vessel
seal. OSHA addressed management issues in prior enforcement, he says.
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