Description of Hazardous Substances Events in the Manufacturing of Chemicals and Allied Products
Abstract
This report describes events involving the acute release of hazardous substances from reported to the Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance (HSEES) system for 1993-2000. HSEES, a surveillance system maintained by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), collects data on the industries/services associated with events. This analysis focuses on fixed-facility events that occurred during the manufacturing of chemicals and allied products (i.e. categorized according to the 1990 Industrial Classification System (ICS) of the U.S. Bureau of the Census). This is the most frequently reported industry category in the surveillance system, with over 12,000 events (28% of all events and 35% of fixed-facility events). Further classification found that the majority (71%) of these events involved the manufacturing of industrial and miscellaneous chemicals (ICS code 192), and 21% plastics, synthetics, and resins (ICS code 180. A total of 2,676 persons reported injuries in 307 fixed- facility events. Most of the injured persons were employees (42%), followed by the general public (38%), students (15%), and responders (5%). Thirty-five percent of all injured persons and 46% of all injured employees had respiratory symptoms. Releases frequently occurred in processing vessels, and the majority were due to equipment failure. A review of the data indicates that manufacturers of chemicals and allied products could help reduce morbidity and mortality by taking preventive actions such as performing regular maintenance of processing equipment, encouraging employees to wear respiratory protection, and educating the public on what to do in the event of a release from these facilities.
Description
PresentationSubject
Hazardous Substances EventsCollections
Citation
Manassaram, Deana M.; Orr, Maureen F.; Kaye, Wendy E. (2002). Description of Hazardous Substances Events in the Manufacturing of Chemicals and Allied Products. Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center; Texas &M University. Libraries. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /193765.