Ignorance Is Not Bliss with Reactive Chemical Hazards

Many highly hazardous chemicals have been identified by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) Process Safety Management (PSM) regulation. Exclusion from the regulatory lists, however, must not lull you into the mistaken belief that your chemistry does not have reactive hazards that must be identified, understood and controlled.

A recommended approach for reactive chemical characterization includes reactivity data, thermal and chemical stability data as well as hazardous effects of inadvertent mixing of materials or other credible upset conditions that could potentially occur. This presentation will provide practical tips for reactive chemical hazard identification and characterization that need to be reviewed at both the design stage as well as full production scale up. Several industry accidents will be used to illustrate key points for characterizing and recognizing chemical reactivity hazards as well as identifying potential safeguards or alternate designs that could be used to mitigate the identified risks.