Question

Explain each answer in at least 1000 words each.

i. Explain the need for personnel protective equipment in combating hazards.
ii. Explain the importance of ventilation.
iii. List the precautionary measures for electrical equipment in a hazardous zone.
iv. Explain the importance of Classification and Labelling of chemicals.
v. Explain the need for Safety auditing in a process plant.

Answer 1

1 ans:

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT(PPE) Need and Types:

OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.132 requires employers to assess the workplace to determine if hazards are present, or are likely to be present, which necessitate the use of PPE

Personal protective equipment(PPE) is used as temporary (until more effective hazard control techniques can be used) or last line of protection for workers against hazards. the PPE you use will depend on the work environment the work conditions and the process being performed.

Levels of PPE

Personal protective equipment is divided into four categories based on the degree of protection afforded

Level a protection should be worn when the highest level of respiratory, skin, eye and mucous membrane protection is needed. A typical level a ensemble includes:

Positive pressure (pressure demand)self-contained breathing apparatus(SCBA)(NIOSH approved)or positive-pressure supplied air respirator with escape SCBA.

Fully encapsulating chemical protective suit.

Gloves inner chemical resistant gloves couter

Chemical resistant

Boots chemical resistant steel toe and shank(depending on suit boot construction worn over or under suit boot)

Level B protection should be selected when the highest level of respiratory protection is needed but a lesser level of skin and eye protection is needed level B protection is the minimum level recommended on initial site entries until the hazards have been further identified and defined by monitoring sampling and other reliable methods of analysis and equipment corresponding with those findings utilized a typical Level B ensemble includes positive-pressure(pressure-demand)self-contained breathing apparatus(NIOSH approved)or positive-pressure supplied air respirator with escape SCBA.

Chemical resistant clothing(overalls and long-sleeved jacket coveralls hooded two-piece

chemical splash suit disposable chemical resistant coveralls)gloves outer chemical resistant

gloves inner chemical resistant

boots outer chemical resistant steel toe and shank

Level C protection should be selected when the type of aiebone substance is known concentration measured criteria for using air-purifying respirators met and skin and eye exposure is unlikely

Periodic monitoring of the air must be performed. A typical level c ensemble includes:

Full-face or half-mask air-purifying respirator(NIOSH approved)

Chemical resistant clothing(one piece coverall hooded two piece chemical splash suit chemical resistant hood and apron disposable chemical resistant coveralls)gloves outer chemical resistant gloves inner chemical resistant

Boots steel toe and shank chemical resistant.

Level D protection is primarily a work uniform and is used for nuisance contamination only it requires only coverall and safety shoes/boots. Other PPE is based upon the situation(types of gloves etc )it should not be worn on any site where respiratory or skin hazards exist.

2 Ans:

Section 13. Ventilation and temprature

(1) Effective and suitable provisions shall be made in every factory for securing and maintaining in every workroom -adequate ventilation by the circulation of fresh air, and such a temprature as will secure to workers therein reasonable conditions of comfort and prevent injury to health;and in particular,-

1. walls and roofs shall be of such material and so designed that such temperature shall not be exceeded but kept as low as practicable;
2. where the nature of the work carried on in the factories involves, or is likely to involve, the production of excessively high temperatures, such adequate measures as are practicable shall be taken to protect the workers therefrom, by separating the process, which produces such temperatures from the workroom, by insulating the hot parts or by other effective means.

The [State] Government may prescribe a standard of adequate ventilation and reasonable temperature for any factory or class or description of factories or parts thereof and direct that ⁴⁸[proper measuring instruments, at such places and in such position as may be specified, shall be provided and such records, as may be prescribed, shall be maintained.]

If it appears to the Chief Inspector that excessively high temperatures in any factory can be reduced by the adoption of suitable measures, he may, without prejudice to the rules made under sub-section (2), serve on the occupier, an order in writing specifying the measures which,in his opinion,should be adopted, and requiring them to be carried out before a specified date.]

Importance of Ventilation:

1. In CONFINED SPACE ENTRY, Ventilation is very important.

Carefully remove or open lids, covers, doors, and/or hatches to allow for natural ventilation.

Be cautious to not create a spark. If within 15 min. the confined space is not at Class C

Level, use a power ventilator and retest the air as before in pre-entry. Use a sampling port if Available.

2. Engineering controls minimize employee exposure by either reducing or removing the hazard at the source or isolating the worker from the hazard. Engineering controls include eliminating toxic chemicals and substituting non-toxic chemicals, enclosing work processes or confining work operations, and the installation of general and local ventilation systems.

3 Ans:

Hazardous areas are classified into zones based on an assessment of the frequency of the occurrence and duration of an explosive gas atmosphere, as follows:

• Zone 0: An area in which an explosive gas atmosphere is present continuously or for long periods;
• Zone 1: An area in which an explosive gas atmosphere is likely to occur in normal operation;
• Zone 2: An area in which an explosive gas atmosphere is not likely to occur in normal operation and, if it occurs, will only exist for a short time

Selection of Electrical Equipment

DSEAR sets out the link between zones, and the equipment that may be installed in that zone. This applies to new or newly modified installations. The equipment categories are defined by the ATEX equipment directive, set out in UK law as the Equipment and Protective Systems for Use in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 1996. Standards set out different protection concepts, with further subdivisions for some types of equipment according to gas group and temperature classification. Most of the electrical standards have been developed over many years and are now set at international level, while standards for non-electrical equipment are only just becoming available from CEN.

The DSEAR ACOP describes the provisions concerning existing equipment.

There are different technical means (protection concepts) of building equipment to the different categories. These, the standard current in mid 2003, and the letter giving the type of protection are listed below.

Zone 0	Zone 1	Zone 2
Category 1	Category 2	Category 3
'ia' intrinsically safe EN 50020, 2002	'd' - Flameproof enclosure EN 50018 2000	Electrical Type 'n' - EN 50021 1999 Non electrical EN 13463-1, 2001
Ex s - Special protection if specifically certified for Zone 0	'p' - Pressurised EN 50016 2002
	'q' - Powder filling EN 50017, 1998
	'o' - Oil immersion EN 50015, 1998
	'e' - Increased safety EN 50019, 2000
	'ib' - Intrinsic safety EN 50020, 2002
	'm' - Encapsulation EN 50028, 1987
	's' - Special protection

Correct selection of electrical equipment for hazardous areas requires the following information:

• Classification of the hazardous area (as in zones shown in the table above);
• Temperature class or ignition temperature of the gas or vapour involved according to the table below:

Temperature Classification	Maximum Surface Temperature, °C	Ignition Temperature of gas or vapour, °C
T1	450	>450
T2	300	>300
T3	200	>200
T4	135	>135
T5	100	>100
T6	85	>85

If several different flammable materials may be present within a particular area, the material that gives the highest classification dictates the overall area classification. The IP code considers specifically the issue of hydrogen containing process streams as commonly found on refinery plants. Consideration should be shown for flammable material that may be generated due to interaction between chemical species

4 Ans:

The importance of GHS

There are a number of reasons which make understanding of, and compliance to GHS, such an important part of global chemical trading and chemical safety, including:

1. Need to comply with GHS requirements on a global scale

GHS is increasingly becoming a truly global standard; it has already been implemented or is in the process of being implemented by 72 countries. For example, in China, GHS is implemented by several compulsory national and recommended national standards. Exporters wishing to trade with China and indigenous Chinese chemical companies must adopt these standards to classify label and package chemicals and prepare appropriate Safety Data Sheets.

GHS has also been adopted in the US as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Hazard Communication Standard. In Canada, the government have made necessary changes to the Hazardous Products Act and recently introduced the Hazardous Product Regulations (2015). In Australia, the Model Work Health and Safety laws have implemented GHS there.

2. Requirement to provide safety data sheets to downstream users

In the EU, the REACH Regulation requires the supplier of a substance or a mixture to make available a safety data sheet (SDS) for downstream users upon request, where the substance in question meets the criteria for classification as hazardous in accordance with the CLP Regulation..

Globally, GHS has a general requirement that an SDS should be produced for all substances and mixtures, which meet the harmonised criteria for physical, health or environmental hazards and for all mixtures,

Therefore, it is particularly important for suppliers of chemicals, which possess hazardous properties, to classify these mixtures correctly in order to identify, which hazards remain applicable to the mixture itself. This will determine the necessity of an SDS for these mixtures.

3. Requirement to provide adequate occupational safety information

Under the UK’s and Ireland’s ‘common law’ system, a general duty of care emanates from the Health and Safety at Work legislation, which obliges suppliers to provide adequate and up to date information about the use for which the article/mixture is intended and about any conditions necessary, to ensure that it will be safe without risks to safety or health at all times. The employer therefore will require the GHS classification and the equivalent of a SDS to complete his necessary occupational risk assessments.

The Hazardous Substances Ordinance in Germany is an example of a more prescriptive ‘civil law’ legislative instrument, which contains requirements for employers in terms of information gathering and risk assessment.

4. GHS is intrinsically linked with the transportation regulations for dangerous goods

The UN Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, Model Regulations define the safety requirements for transport of dangerous goods, which in Europe are legislatively implemented with respect to:

• Road (European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road, or ADR);
• Rail (Regulations concerning the Transport of Dangerous Goods by Rail, or RID); and
• Inland waterways (European Agreement concerning the International Dangerous Goods by Inland Waterways, or ADN).

Internationally, these Model Regulations are implemented or in the process of being implemented by many countries, along with the following international codes based on the same Model Regulations:

• The International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG);
• International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air (ICAO TI);
• The Model Regulations provide for the classification of all dangerous goods into one of nine main hazard classification groups with a corresponding class or hazard label. The classification procedure is based upon the GHS criteria for chemical hazard classification.

5. Correct identification of hazardous waste

The properties of waste which render it hazardous are listed in the EU Directive 2008/98/EC on Waste. The attribution of the hazardous properties listed in this Annex is based on the criteria defined in the CLP Regulation. Therefore it is necessary to obtain the correct GHS classification of a substance/mixture constituting the waste in order to identify its status as hazardous waste or not.

6. Seveso Directive and International Convention on Accidents

In 1992, UNECE adopted the Convention of the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents as part of a focused effort to prevent industrial accidents and their transboundary effects. This shares considerable similarity to the EU’s Seveso Directive on control of major accident hazards, which appeared initially in 1982 and in its latest Seveso III format, has since June 2015 been based exclusively on GHS classifications (Directive 2012/18/EU on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances).

The scope of this Seveso Directive applies to both dangerous substances present, dangerous substances anticipated to be present (i.e. during manufacturing) and dangerous substances which may be generated during loss of control of the processes, including storage activities. Therefore, one really cannot escape the obligation to correctly classify dangerous substances on site, such as occurs when a raw material is diluted with water to a mixture of lower concentration.

5 Ans:

Work Site Safety Audits

Audits of work sites are conducted for the purpose of health, safety, and fire hazard identification. During these surveys, assessments are made for compliance to applicable building and fire codes and the detection of unsafe hazards.

Work site audits also provide an evaluation of compliance to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards relating to ergonomics, respirator use, hearing conservation, blood-borne pathogens and use of personal protective equipment. Ergonomics, the study of work and the relationships of carious stressors on the individual, can be identified through the building audits. The objective of ergonomics is to adapt the job and workplace to the worker by designing tasks, workstations, tools, and equipment to the abilities of the worker. Conducting a single annual comprehensive safety audit can actually hide the facts and hazards that you may want to discover. The single annual audit approach may tend to create a safety "ramp up" effect, by managers and supervisors, as the audit time approaches.

A better approach may be to schedule various specific safety audits throughout the year on a ten month schedule. The eleventh month should be reserved for a comprehensive annual audit. Consider using the same topic schedule for your annual refresher training program.

What safety audits are not

Safety Audits are primarily to check the effectiveness of the various programs, they do not take the place of regular facility inspections. Facility safety inspections for hazards and their control should be performed on a weekly basis by supervisors and on a monthly basis by management.

The big four

There are four basic questions a safety audit should answer. The persons or team designated to conduct the audits should take a fact finding approach to gather data. These auditors should be familiar with both the company program and the various local, state and federal requirements.

All safety audit comments, recommendations and corrective actions should focus on these four questions:
1. Does the program cover all regulatory and best industry practice requirements?
2. Are the program requirements being met?
3. Is there documented proof of compliance?
4. Is employee training effective – can and do they apply specific safe behaviors?

The Phases through which Audit was conducted is given below

• Phase One - Safety Audit Preparation
• Phase Two - Fact Finding
• Phase Three - Review of Findings of the safety audit
• Phase Four - Recommendations from the safety audit
• Phase Five - Corrective Actions from the safety audit
• Phase Six - Publish the Safety Audit results