Promoting Resource Efficiency in Small & Medium size ... - UNEP

personal protection devices (e.g. a towel wrapped around face)
• Places in the factory where workers complain about health effects,
loss of consciousness, etc.
• Incidents of fire, explosion or accident in the past year
• Ignition sources such as heat / sparks / open flames in the
neighbourhood of flammable liquids / gases / dusts containers
that are labelled with hazard symbols
• Situations where the skin of workers is contaminated with
chemicals
• Spoiled or expired chemicals
• Situations where workers do not have appropriate tools for mixing,
weighing, transportation, etc. 93
3: Identify risk-prone and vulnerable groups, areas and assets in case of
an accident
This step is all about identifying threatened people, environment and/or
property. In case of an accident, ask yourself the following questions and
discuss them in the team:
• How many workers are undertaking activities where hazardous
chemicals are involved?
• How many workers are undertaking activities near areas where
hazardous chemicals are being handled or stored?
• Are activities taking place in an area of high population density?
• Are there any hospitals, schools, markets or shopping areas
located nearby?
• Are hazardous chemicals being handled, stored, processed or
used in or nearby:
- Areas prone to flooding?
- Agricultural areas?
- Areas where water for drinking, agricultural or recreational use
is resourced?
- Nature protection areas?
4: Identify potential accident scenarios related to the hazard hotspots you
have identified
Reviewing and analysing past accidents from your business and within
your industry will be extremely helpful for avoiding future accidents.
Recalling well-known accidents in the sector may also help you in
identifying potential types of accidents (or ‘accident scenarios’) related
to the hotspots you have already identified.
Taking into account the types and quantities of hazardous chemicals
involved in each of the steps on your process flowchart, try to list
potential accidents related to the hazard hotspots you have already
identified.
You may want to consider the following types of accidents (or ‘accident
scenarios’), and check if any of the hazards you have identified could
have the potential to trigger or contribute to such an event:
• Containment failures due to corrosion, metal fatigue, creep,
embrittlement or poor water management
• Toxic release
• Emission of toxic or irritant gases or fumes
• Explosions: unconfined vapour cloud explosion (UVCE),
boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion (BLEVE), chemical
explosion, dust explosion
• Explosion or fire from the handling of inflammable gases in
liquid form
• Chemical fire producing harmful gases
• Chemical fire leading to polluted water escaping as a result of
attempts to extinguish the fire
• Leakage of hazardous chemicals from storage and process areas,
or during transport
• Other (discuss among the risk assessment team)
5: Identify the severity of related health, environmental, social and
economic impacts in an accident situation
Taking into account the quantities and characteristics of the hazardous
chemicals involved in your process, the threatened resources in case
of a potential accident, and the potential accidents that may occur,
identify what could be the related health, environmental, social and
economic impacts – both inside and outside your facilities, and assign
a ‘severity’ (importance) factor based on the scales given (note: scales
should be first discussed and agreed upon by the members in your risk
assessment team)
At this step, it will be helpful if you consult with your business partners
and other relevant stakeholders to understand their view on the social,
environmental and economic impacts related to the potential accidents
you have identified.
Severity scale (Impact on community and social infrastructures):
• Negligible (temporary slight discomfort)
• Limited (injuries of neighbours)
• Serious (injuries resulting in temporary disablement)
• Very serious (death or serious injuries resulting in permanent
disablement of a neighbour)
• Catastrophic (death or serious injuries resulting in permanent
disablement of several neighbours)
Severity scale (Impacts on workers health):
• Negligible (temporary slight discomfort)
• Limited (injuries resulting in temporary worker absence)
• Serious (injuries resulting in temporary disablement)
• Very serious (death or serious injuries resulting in permanent
disablement of a worker)
• Catastrophic (death or serious injuries resulting in permanent
disablement of several workers)
Severity scale (Impacts on community health):
• Negligible (temporary slight discomfort)
• Limited (injuries resulting in temporary discomfort)
• Serious (injuries resulting in temporary disablement of a person
in the community
• Very serious (death or serious injuries resulting in permanent
disablement of a person in the community)
• Catastrophic (death or serious injuries resulting in permanent
disablement of several persons in the community; community
evacuation)
Severity scale (Impacts on land-use, agriculture and fisheries, on water
resources or on quality of air):
• Negligible (no contamination, localised effects)
• Limited (simple contamination, localised effects, natural
remediation)
• Serious (simple contamination, widespread effects with need for
simple remediation)
• Very serious (heavy contamination, localised effects with need for
re mediation)
• Catastrophic (very heavy contamination, widespread effects with
need for remediation)
93 GTZ, Chemical Management Guide for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises: Improve Chemical Management to Gain Cost Savings, Reduce Hazards and Improve Safety, 2008.
82