POSTER MAJOR DISASTERS 22 Feb

PROCESS
SAFETY
LESSONS

TAUGHT FROM EXPERIENCE

“Community should have the right to know
about the nature of the chemicals being
handled in the nearby chemical

manufacturing units, their preparedness for
and their response to any chemical
emergency.”

Source: http://www.erris.org

2

MAJOR
INDUSTRIAL
DISASTERS

INCIDENTS THAT DEFINE PROCESS SAFETY

Explosion

Toxic
Release

Runaway
Reaction

Prepared by: 3
Dr Wan Rafizah Wan Abdullah
2016

THEBHOPAL GAS
UNFINISHEDTRAGEDY, 1984
STORY
4

FACTS

Location: Bhopal, India Date: December 2, 1984

Cause: (Runaway reaction & Toxic Release) 5
• Exothermic reaction between contaminated methyl

isocyanate (MIC) and water causing runaway reaction.
• 25 tons of MIC vapor released.
Aftermath: Toxic cloud spread nearby town poisoning/killing
2500 and up to 10 000 in the first 3 days, injured more than
20,000.

Lesson Learned:
• Expanding industrialization in developing countries without

concurrent evolution in safety regulations could have
catastrophic consequences.
• Enforceable uniform international operating regulations for
hazardous industries would have provided a mechanism
for significantly improved in safety.
• International standards could provide norms for measuring
performance of individual companies engaged in
hazardous activities.

DIOXIN CRISIS,
SEVESO, ITALY,
1976

CATASTROPHE DE SEVESO

2000 dioxin poisoning 200 inured
730 evacuated 10 miles2 immediate contamination

6

FACTS

Location: Seveso, Italy Date: July 10, 1976

Cause: (Runaway reaction & Toxic
Release)
• Reactor out of control, produced

excessive side product of
extremely toxic TCDD (Dioxin)

• 2 kg of vapor TCDD released to
atmosphere through relief system
and heavy rain washed into soil.

Aftermath: 2000 were treated for dioxin poisoning, 200
inured, 730 people evacuated, immediate contamination of 10
miles2 of land and vegetation

Lesson Learned: 7
• The complexity of communication problems under

conditions of severe uncertainty was recognized,
• Before the incident, no one outside the plant neither

residents nor political or health authorities - had any idea
that there was a hazard of such magnitude.
• The authorities had their own severe problems of decision-
making under uncertainty, including the definition of
different polluted zones, programmes of evacuation of
endangered residents, and disposal of contaminated
material.
• Legislation aimed at the prevention and control of
accidents involving dangerous substances in the EU was
significantly prompted (Seveso Directive)

FLIXBOROUGH
EXPLOSION,
1974

History of unsafe processes

Explosion equivalent to 15 ton of TNT!

8

FACTS

Location: Flixborough, UK Date: June 1, 1974
Cause: (Explosion)
• Release of 85 000 lbs of
flammable mixture (ethylene,
isobutyl, hexane, hydrogen) when
a bypass system ruptured.
• Gas cloud was ignited by
unidentified source, causing
massive explosion.

Aftermath: 28 workers were killed, 36 were severely
injured, 1800 buildings were damaged, the loss is equivalent
with approx. $200 millions at present value.

Lesson Learned:
• There was no professional engineer in the plant at the time

of the accident. The temporary modification was
constructed by people who did not know to design large
pipes equipped with bellows.
• The most important lesson that Flixborough taught is the
need to minimize inventories of hazardous materials.
• The disaster led to a widespread public outcry over
industrial plant safety, and significant tightening of the UK
government's regulations covering hazardous industrial
processes.

9

nuclearEPIC crisisFUKUSHIMA
DAIICHI NUCLEAR
DISASTER, 2011

10

FACTS

Location: Fukushima Daiichi, Japan
Date: March 11, 2011

Cause: Aftermath: The accident prompted
widespread evacuations of local
(Toxic release, explosion, populations, large economic losses,
natural disaster) and the eventual shutdown of all
nuclear power plants in Japan.
• Great East Japan Massive radioactive contamination of
Earthquake and the Japanese mainland. Estimated
tsunami initiated a total economic loss range from $250-
severe nuclear 500 billion US.
accident at the
Fukushima Daiichi Lesson Learned:
Nuclear Power
Station. ?
11
• Three of the six
reactors at the plant
sustained severe core
damage and released
hydrogen and
radioactive materials.