ICS

ICS, or the incident command system is system of communication during disaster/incidents.  In other words, this is the chain of information and the order in which people are informed about events.  This is something that was taken much more serious during a series of fires in California in the 1970’s. 

It was determined that the fire was so devastating, not because of lack of manpower or resources, but from lack of communication.  That being said, of course today we have a much easier way of communicating.  Everyone has mobile phones, emails, etc.  So today communication is much easier and much more efficient.  Regardless, communication still plays just as big of a rule, or maybe even a bigger role now, in emergencies.  The amount of time it takes for emergency responders to respond to an emergency can often be the difference between life and death.   An example of were lack of communication cost lives was in 9/11.  Some lack of communication is always expected.  You cannot expect all of New York City to be aware of a disaster as soon as it happens.  However, many people lost there life’s simply because they did not know what was happening.  There are stories of people gathering up their belongings in the towers and never coming out because of the time they wasted.  Also people in the surrounding areas were not necessarily instantly aware of what was taking place.  If the chain of command in the towers was improved it could have saved life.  We see a similar scenario in other tragedies like Hurricane Katrina.  Some people were just never told to evacuate.  Because of this reason, it is estimated that many people lost their life’s.  Many people were in fact told to leave, and refused because they did not fully understand the magnitude of the situation.  ICS is used on many different scales.  Whether it is in private business or the United States government.  There are many intricacies to the ICS.   Including long and short term planning.  In large-scale tragedies it could take an unforeseen amount of time to get everything cleaned up.  Hurricane Katrina took years and it is still not completely cleaned up. 

The ICS can include grotesque procedures, including those telling how to deal with a massive amount of fatalities and what to do with the bodies.  Unfortunately this is an inevitable part of tragedies.  Procedures like this are crucial to deal with the scenarios as effectively as possible and save as many life’s as possible.  However in a mass chaos there are many unforeseen events that can disrupt the planed ICS.  No matter how much planning and preparation goes into an ICS there will always be some form of confusion.  But that’s why so much time and effort is goes into preventing disasters.  In an occupational setting, that is why we have safety regulations.  Massive disasters can occur as result of negligence for safety.  There are countless chemicals, equipment, and compressed gases that can very easily cause a large scale disaster.  For this reason, ICS and its contributing standards are extremely important.

PCB's

PCBs, or PolychlorinatedBiphenyls, are a group of environmentally harmful compounds that used to be produced in the United States.  A PCB molecule is any of 209 chemical compounds called congeners.  For something to be classified as a PCB, one to ten chlorine atoms must be attached to a biphenyl molecule. 

PCBs were manufactured in the United States, Europe, and Japan under the trade name “Aroclor”.  Monsanto was the company that produced “Aroclor”. PCB’s used to be in just about everything.  Whether it be plastics, paints, rubber products, coolants, electrical components or anything dealing with the manufacturing process. They are favorable in products for their thermal and chemical resistance.  PCBs have a very high boiling point, usually above 270 degrees Celsius.  This is what makes them so useful for heat resistant applications.  For this reason they were often used in high temperature lubricants.  Many plastic parts for automobiles, and other equipment that are close to a heat source such as an engine contained PCB’s.  For the same reason, PCB’s were widely used in electrical equipment.  Transformers and lining of wires often require being I insulated with heat resistant material. 

This requirement makes PCB’s a perfect match. While banned in many countries, like the U.S., Canada, and a lot of the European Union, many developing countries still use PCB’s in production of their products.    For the same reasons that make PCB’s so useful, they are also harmful to the environment.  Because they are so resistant to heat and other factors, they also do not break down in the environment over time.  This means that they accumulate at a very rapid rate.  This is particular evident in our water ways.  The animal that is considered to have the highest PCB concentration is the orca whale.  But in more general terms, aquatic life generally has the highest level of PCB’s.  Predatory fish/mammals have the highest levels due to bioaccumulation.  This is because they are eating lower life forms every day.  The PCB’s that their prey has absorbed is than brought into the body of the predatory animal.  Because PCB’s do not break down easy, they stay in the animal’s body.  This can have many adverse health effects.  Just some of the effects include mothers having premature births, cancer, heart disease, and pretty much anything else you can think of relating to a chronic condition.  Now this all sounds bad, no one wants animals to be sick.  But the concerning part about this is that humans are eating these animals.  So we are also suffering from bioaccumulation.  PCB’s are thought to have the same effect in humans as on marine mammals.  This is concerning because such a large portion of the fish we eat come from the ocean.  In particular salmon, which is a predatory fish.  So if bioaccumulations happening in salmon, it is even more magnified in humans, since we are actually eating a predator.  Overall, we need to completely stop the use PCBs worldwide.  It does not matter if the U.S. is no longer using PCB’s if other nations still are.  PCB’s drift thousands of miles and spread all across the world in are oceans.                    

Fit Testing

Fit testing is a very important part of making sure employees respiratory devices are working properly.  The purpose of the fit test is to ensure that the mask has an airtight seal around the face of the individual wearing it.  If the fit is not right, than whatever material trying to be kept out may be breathed in by the person wearing the mask.  This is a reason for concern, particularly when many dangerous gases don’t have a scent or very many warning signs.  Filtering particulates, gases, or anything else out is a vital task of any filter respirator.  An airtight seal is also vital with a supplied air respirator. Fit tests can be done in a variety of ways.  Either using an electronic machine that detects the particles coming into the mask or simply using a very strong scent/taste test to tell if are leaking in around the seal.  Both test have some similarities but are very different.  The cheaper method of testing is the taste/smell test.  This method does not require the high-end digital equipment that the other test requires. 

That being said it is also less precise but still very effective.  A substance, usually saccharin, is used to tell if any outside air is seeping threw the seal of the mask.  A hood is placed over the subject to keep the saccharin released in the air in the vicinity of the mask so it may be detected.   First the person administering the test releases the saccharin into the hood while the person is not wearing a mask.  This is to see how much saccharin is needed to be administered before it can be detected.  Than the person drinks water to clear the taste from there mouth.  The mask is than fitted onto the persons face.  Saccharin is than added to the closed hood once again.  The person is asked to move their head side to side, and up and down.  The person is asked to read “The Rainbow Passage”.  The subject is asked to bend over or jog in place as well.  If the person at any point detects the scent/taste during the test than you know the seal is not good.  The mask is than either refitted or swapped for another type of respirator.  The process is similar for the other method as well. 

The subject is still asked to read the rainbow passage, move side-to-side, tilt up and down etc.  A hose is fitted to the respirator and than connected to the machine. While the person is performing the tasks previously listed, the machine measures the amount of particulate entering the air the person is breathing within the mask.  The same process is repeated as it is in the smell/taste test.  The mask is either refitted or swapped out if the subject fails the test.  One big reason a person may fail the test is if they have facial hair that prevents the mask from sealing to there face.  Many times the employee may be asked to shave their face to ensure a better fit.  Naturally, this is usually more of a problem with men.

Process Safety Management (PSM)

Process safety management or (PSM) is an analytical tool centered on preventing releases of any substance defined as a highly hazardous chemical.  PSM refers to a set of approaches that are used to manage hazards associated with the industrial processes and it is intended to reduce the frequency and severity of incidents resulting from releases of chemicals and other energy sources (US OSHA 1993). These standards are composed of organizational and operational procedures, design guidance, audit programs, and convey of other methods.  Here I have included the 14 step process and an explanation from OSHA’s website.

  1) Develop and maintain written safety information identifying workplace chemical and process hazards, equipment used in the processes, and technology used in the processes.

 (2) Perform a workplace hazard assessment, including, as appropriate, identification of potential sources of accidental releases, identification of any previous release within the facility that had a potential for catastrophic consequences in the workplace, estimation of workplace effects of a range of releases, and estimation of the health and safety effects of such a range on employees.

(3) Consult with employees and their representatives on the development and conduct of hazard assessments and the development of chemical accident prevention plans and provide access to these and other records required under the standard.

(4) Establish a system to respond to the workplace hazard assessment findings, which shall address prevention, mitigation, and emergency responses.

 (5) Review periodically the workplace hazard assessment and response system.

(6) Develop and implement written operating procedures for the chemical processes, including procedures for each operating phase, operating limitations, and safety and health considerations.

(7) Provide written safety and operating information for employees and employee training in operating procedures, by emphasizing hazards and safe practices that must be developed and made available.

(8) Ensure contractors and contract employees are provided with appropriate information and training;

(9) Train and educate employees and contractors in emergency response procedures in a manner as comprehensive and effective as that required by the regulation promulgated pursuant to section 126(d) of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act.

(10) Establish a quality assurance program to ensure that initial process-related equipment, maintenance materials, and spare parts are fabricated and installed consistent with design specifications; Process Safety Management 4.

(11) Establish maintenance systems for critical process-related equipment, including written procedures, employee training, appropriate inspections, and testing of such equipment to ensure ongoing mechanical integrity.

(12) Conduct pre-startup safety reviews of all newly installed or modified equipment.

(13) Establish and implement written procedures managing change to process chemicals, technology, equipment and facilities.

 (14) Investigate every incident that results in or could have resulted in a major accident in the workplace, with any findings to be reviewed by operating personnel and modifications made, if appropriate.

Process Safety has developed over the years.  Unfortunately, this is often due to severe incidents.  But it is through these incidents that we learn.  OSHA and the EPA have a huge influence on the PSM.  OSHA, covering the safety of the employees.  And the EPA covering the environmental risks that industry causes.  However the two can be heavily tied, for example the Bhopal, India release was an environmental pollutant that cause a lot of harm to people (not necessarily employees in this case).  This is just one example of how the two are heavily intertwined.

t-butyllithium in heptane

Shipping hazardous materials of any sort poses a massive risk to people.  The people most at risk is the person packaging the material, the person transporting it, and the person opening the package.  However certain materials can put large amounts of people in danger.  In this scenario, we are going to talk about transporting a very hazardous chemical.  The chemical is known as t-butyl-lithium in heptane (heptane is the solvent).  This is classified as a pyrophoric liquid. Pyrophoric chemicals are liquids and solids that have the potential to spontaneously ignite in air at temperatures of 130 degrees Fahrenheit/ 54 degrees Celsius or below. It also has corrosive, water reactive, and peroxide forming properties.  TBL (t-butyl-lithium) will catch fire if exposed to oxygen/air.  If exposed to water, TBL reacts very violently and gives off flammable gases and corrosive dust.  TBL is so reactive with water; even the moisture from your body or skin will cause it to react, if the oxygen in the air has not already caught it on fire.  Inhaling the vapors from TBL is very dangerous. 

Inhalation of vapors may cause dizziness, nausea, anesthesia, numbness, motor weakness in fingers and toes, incoordination, and headaches.  If ingested, TBL may produce a lung aspiration.   As you can see, this chemical is very dangerous in many ways.  When shipping this chemical, it is to be kept free of contact from water, air, and oxidizing materials.  When being handled, personnel should wear a full-face mask and gloves at the very least.  The environment in which TBL is being handled should be a closed system under argon and nitrogen gases.  TBL should be kept away from any sparks and flames.  Storage containers should be protected, and physically inspected for leaks and physical damage.  Shipping TBL should be very carefully carried out.    The package containing TBL should show that it is an organometallic substance, that it is a liquid, that it is pyrophoric, and that it is water reactive.  The package should also be labeled “T-BUTYLLITHIUM, HYDROCARBON SOLUTION, 4.2(4.3), UN 3394, PG I”.  Shipments also require a “Dangerous When Wet” and “Spontaneously Combustible” label(s).  Transport of TBL by post, parcel, and air, are prohibited in the United States.  It is however aloud to be transported by roadway and railway in class 4.2(4.3)(DOT).  All shipments on roadways need to be carried out in a DOT(Department of Transportation) approved vehicle.  It is also aloud to be transported by sea in class 4.2(4.3)(IMDG).   When shipping TBL the container is not to be filled more than 90 percent of its potential capacity.  The extra space in containers is filled with an inert gas like nitrogen.  Glass containers are fitted with a septum so the chemical can be retrieved with a syringe.  Other containers are slightly pressurized and fitted with one-way valves to prevent air contamination.  Containers should be air and watertight.  Containers should also have an extremely robust outer shell to ensure the TBL does not escape.  More than one layer of containment is highly recommended due to the extreme danger TBL poses.   Vehicles carrying the chemical should be clearly marked as hazardous material transporters.