Incident Report
Subject: Various News Reports Date of Email reporting Incident: Mon 05/05/2008 Report Detail: Ireland - Worker killed after third blast hits chemicals plant
Four separate investigations were launched last night into the death of a married father of one who was killed in the third explosion at a chemicals plant in less than two months. Gardai, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Health and Safety Authority are investigating the cause of the accident, which claimed the life of Liam Nodwell. The company has also launched its own internal inquiry. The 58-year-old died at Cork University Hospital following the latest accident at the Corden PharmaChem facility in Little Island shortly before 1.30am yesterday. Fire crews and ambulances from Cork city arrived at the scene within minutes of the explosion and six workers were transferred to Cork University Hospital (CUH) for treatment. One worker remained in a serious condition yesterday while the other four employees were discharged from hospital after being treated for minor injuries. One employee had to go through a decontamination unit in the hospital's A&E department. Three incidents have occurred at Corden PharmaChem since March. There were no injuries in the previous incidents. Yesterday a spokesman for Corden PharaChem expressed his "deepest sympathy" to the family and friends of Liam Nodwell and said the company's thoughts and prayers were with the bereaved. He added that the cause of the blast was unknown at this stage. Mr Nodwell had been a production worker at PharmaChem for over 20 years. Managing director of PharmaChem in Cork, Paudie Burke, said staff were mourning the loss of their "esteemed colleague", Liam Nodwell. He also extended his sympathy to Mr Nodwell's wife, Sheila, and the couple's son, Brian. A spokesman for the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) confirmed inspectors from the authority were attending the scene and a full investigation was due to be launched. The plant remained closed yesterday as the investigations got under way. The Corden PharmaChem group was established following the acquisition of two manufacturing facilities by the International Chemical Investors Group.The company employs 105 people at a 20-acre site in Little Island in the manufacture of bulk drugs and ingredients for the pharmaceutical industry. Cork North Central Labour TD Kathleen Lynch said the death of Mr Nodwell highlighted local concerns about safety at the Little Island plant. Sympathies "My thoughts first and foremost are with the family of this man and my sincere sympathies go to them," she said. Cork Green Party Cllr Chris O' Leary said he was worried about health and safety policies at pharmaceutical and chemical plants in Cork city. Mr Nodwell's death brings to 18 the number of workplace deaths in Ireland so far this year. Four separate investigations were launched last night into the death of a married father of one who was killed in the third explosion at a chemicals plant in less than two months. US - Holly Oil Refinery Explosion
A huge explosion lit up the night sky Wednesday night in Woods Cross. It happened at around 8:15 at the Holly Oil Refinery at 393 South 800 West when a pipe full of combustible vapors ignited. The explosion happened in an area of the plant that uses hydrofluoric acid but what blew up were hydrocarbon vapors, the fumes you smell when you fill up your car’s gas tank, still combustible but not as toxic. “I heard a boom that shook the house,” said Vanner Johnson. Johnson lives with his wife and three-year-old son just a few blocks from the refinery. He says he realized it came from the Holly plant. “My wife's concern and mine also, is there going to be an evacuation? We had no idea what just happened.” Johnson went toward the refinery with his video camera and captured the flames shooting 50 to 100 feet in the air. “It looked like at any time the whole place could go up,” he said. The flames only lasted about a minute and unbeknownst to Johnson the fire was quickly under control. “It could've been a lot worse than it was,” said South Davis Metro Fire Chief, Jim Rampton. He says all the joint training his fire fighters did with refinery crews went down like clock work. Plant inspectors had discovered a crack in a flare pipe in an area where a process called alkylation occurs. Alkylation uses hydrofluoric acid as a catalyst to turn lower grade material into higher grade material. “We were actually in the process of bringing that unit down and depressurizing it to repair that line,” said Holly Refinery Environmental Manager, Mike Astin, “that was scheduled for this morning.” Astin says the crack unexpectedly grew and trapped hydrocarbon vapors last night and “found an ignition source and exploded.” Fortunately as part of the repair preparation crews had placed water hoses in the area and an automatic water deluge system kicked on and flooded the area with water. The flare line was shut down and the residual gas allowed to burn off. “if it were to go out then we would have the gas without the fire and then it's the same thing, you get the gas building up,” said Astin, and that could’ve led to another explosion. Vanner Johnson says the whole ordeal has made him a little nervous. “I don't really see a disaster happening that would level the neighborhood or anything like that. What I'm more worried about is something like this where we would have to evacuate and where do we go?” Mr. Astin told ABC 4 the refinery is in the process of putting out an educational video to help further inform nearby residents and may install a Public Announcement system that could immediately inform the neighborhood in the event of future emergencies. The down side to it would be the weekly testing of the system, something that already occurs with the plant’s sirens. One person received minor injuries last night, a subcontractor who was working on some new tanks outside the refinery. Astin says the man was startled by the blast and fell a short distance hurting his back. The refinery is now working at 75% capacity until repairs are made. The company estimates that to take about a week and should not effect prices at the gas pump. The South Davis Fire Agency says the plant was in no imminent danger to the public and air monitoring right after the blast showed no harmful levels of particulates in the air. UK - Shell Fined for Failure to maintain Pipeline Shell UK Oil Products Limited had a 'narrow escape' after 20 tonnes of a highly flammable and toxic gas escaped through a corroded pipe at their Stanlow Manufacturing Complex, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, but dispersed without exploding. The Health and Safety Executive's message to all companies is to ensure that robust maintenance is carried out to prevent corrosion of pipes, which was the cause of this incident. Shell UK Oil Products Limited pleaded guilty to failing to comply with the duty imposed by Regulation 4 of the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (as amended) to take all measures necessary to prevent major accidents, by its failure to contain a flammable toxic gas. The company were fined £266,681 and ordered to pay £37,131.62 costs at Chester Crown Court, for the incident, which happened on 29 May 2003, when 20 tonnes of isobutane (LPG), mixed with 150 kg of hydrogen fluoride escaped into the atmosphere from the release from the HF Alkylation plant. Because of the quantities released, the incident was reported to the European Commission as required by the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (as amended). Health and Safety Executive experts inspected the site after the incident and concluded that Shell had lost control of corrosion processes within the pipe to such an extent that a failure became inevitable. Shell, in one of its own reports, estimated that such an incident could have resulted in multiple fatalities and damage to buildings over a significant area and secondary explosions could have resulted in a major fire leading to catastrophic damage. Health and Safety Executive Inspector Alan Graham said: "This was a major incident which placed many company employees and others at risk from an escape of a flammable toxic gas. The incident happened when a pressure relief pipe corroded to such an extent that it fractured. Although there was no ignition on this occasion, in different circumstances there could have been an explosion. "It was the Health and Safety Executive's case that the gas escape was caused by Shell's failure to properly inspect and maintain the pipe. This failure caused a jet of gas, which formed a cloud, which was seen to drift 10 - 15 metres above the site. The gas cloud was kept under observation until it dispersed." Justin McCracken, HSE's Deputy Chief Executive said: "This case illustrates the importance of having effective maintenance regimes for plants dealing with hazardous substances and processes. They should include the prevention of corrosion and the careful monitoring of the state of all safety critical equipment, including pipe work. The company was lucky that this incident did not have very severe consequences." Canada - Gas explosion at Indiana coal conversion plant kills 2 A massive fire broke out in Kanpur around 1:00 a.m. on Sunday, gutting down a petrochemical factory and killing one person. There were about 87 labourers in the factory and got stranded in the factory when the fire broke out. Around 20 Fire engines were rushed to the spot immediately to douse the fire before it spread to the neighbouring buildings. Army personnel have also been called in to help the firefighters. According to sources, 15 people were rescued out of which 7 people were severely injured. Though the reason behind the massive fire outbreak has not been ascertained as yet, according to eyewitnesses, the factory housed inflammable material due to which the fire spilled out of control. “There are minimum 10-12 people who are still trapped inside. We don’t even know if firefighters will be able to save them or not,” said Sahib Singh, an eyewitness. Rescue operations are still in progress and investigations are being carried out to ascertain the reason behind the accident. A SLOUGH factory was sealed off after a potentially serious chemical scare. More than 40 firefighters from Slough, Windsor and as far afield as Beaconsfield joined forces to tackle the chemical incident on Sunday night at ICI. On Monday part of the factory was still closed and a full investigation launched. Toxic vapours were emitted at the Wexham Road site after a chemical mixture overheated. A security guard raised the alarm at about 8pm after containers began steaming. Crew manager Bidds Pereira, of Slough Fire Station’s Blue Watch, said: “The glue-like substance was incomplete – the final solution hadn’t been added to stabilise it. “There was about 12,000 litres of this substance and it had overheated, giving off a toxic gas.” Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used hoses to cool the mixture with water, before it was handed over to chemical experts at the firm, based off Wexham Road. Appliances from Slough and Windsor were boosted by back-up from Langley, Maidenhead and neighbouring districts, including Egham and Beaconsfield. Spokesman for ICI, Geoff Paddock, said: “The product involved was Latex, which is a material that goes into decorative paint. Somebody noticed the material was overheating and sounded the routine fire alarm. “The fire brigade were called, no one was injured and they were there for about four hours, making sure it was all safe. A full investigation is underway.”
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