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Table of Contents (8 articles)
WOMAN FORCED TO CHANGE OPERATING ROOMS DURING C-SECTION AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL AT NORTHERN HOSPITAL
Tags: Australia, public, release, response, other_chemical
FIVE EMPLOYEES SENT TO HOSPITAL AFTER HAZMAT SCARE IN MEDWAY
Tags: us_MA, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
HAZMAT TEAMS CALLED TO GEORGIA MOTEL AFTER POLICE OFFICERS BECOME SICK
Tags: us_GA, public, release, death, unknown_chemical
TWO WORKERS INJURED IN CHEMICAL UNIT BLAZEIN VAPI GIDC
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, injury, solvent
CREWS CLEAN FUEL SPILL
Tags: us_NY, transportation, release, response, diesel
EPA SIGNALS IT WILL BAN TOXIC CHEMICAL FOUND IN PAINT STRIPPERS ‰?? NATIONAL POLITICS ‰?? BANGOR DAILY NEWS ‰?? BDN MAINE
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, methylene_chloride
COSMETICS FACTORY HIT WITH SAFETY VIOLATIONS, PROPOSED FINES
Tags: us_NY, industrial, follow-up, death, flammables
CHEMISTRY SAFETY EXPERTS AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES WARN SCHOOLS TO STOP UNSAFE SCIENCE DEMONSTRATIONS
Tags: us_TN, laboratory, follow-up, injury, ethanol, flammables, solvent
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WOMAN FORCED TO CHANGE OPERATING ROOMS DURING C-SECTION AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL AT NORTHERN HOSPITAL
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/woman-forced-to-change-operating-rooms-during-c-section-after-chemical-spill-at-northern-hospital-20180513-p4zez7.html
Tags: Australia, public, release, response, other_chemical
A woman undergoing an emergency caesarean section in a major hospital in Melbourne's north had to be evacuated from an operating theatre after a hazardous chemical spill.
Twenty firefighters were called to Northern Hospital in Epping after 200ml of a powerful disinfectant was spilled in a room adjoining the operating theatre around 12.50am Sunday.
No one was injured in the chemical spill at the hospital.
The woman giving birth and operating staff were not injured by the spill, however, they all had to be evacuated to a secondary operating theatre.
The chemical is believed to be peracetic acid - a powerful disinfectant used to sterilise medical equipment - and firefighters had to wear breathing apparatus and splash suits due to the hazardous nature of the material.
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FIVE EMPLOYEES SENT TO HOSPITAL AFTER HAZMAT SCARE IN MEDWAY
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2018/05/12/medway-five-employees-hospitalized-hazmat-scare/
Tags: us_MA, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
MEDWAY (CBS) ‰?? Five employees were sent to the hospital as a precaution after a hazardous chemical scare in Medway on Saturday.
Fire officials said those workers might have been exposed when two chemicals were accidentally mixed, creating a vapor release. Weather may have been a factor.
Five employees were sent to the hospital as a precaution after a hazardous chemical scare in Medway. (WBZ-TV)
‰??The two chemicals were not compatible with each other‰?| so that crisis was averted,‰?? Medway Fire Chief Jeff Lynch said.
Medway fire crews, along with the state hazmat team, responded to chemical spill reported at MicroGroup, a company on Industrial Park Drive, just before 2 p.m. Saturday.
Five employees were sent to the hospital as a precaution after a hazardous chemical scare in Medway. (WBZ-TV)
The company produces stainless steel and other metal products.
Lynch said one of the chemicals, likely used for cleaning metals, was mislabeled, creating a hazardous vapor.
The state hazmat team and firefighters had to deal with 300 gallons of the product.
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HAZMAT TEAMS CALLED TO GEORGIA MOTEL AFTER POLICE OFFICERS BECOME SICK
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/05/12/chemicals-sicken-police-officers-motel/605368002/
Tags: us_GA, public, release, death, unknown_chemical
DECATUR, Ga. ‰?? Several police officers were hospitalized Saturday after responding to reports of a deceased man inside a motel in suburban Atlanta.
DeKalb County police spokeswoman Shiera Campbell says officers responding to the motel room smelled a chemical odor that began to make them sick, and three were sent to an Atlanta-area hospital to be checked out. Campbell said emergency crews evacuated the motel‰??s third floor.
She said the three hospitalized officers are conscious and alert.
Campbell told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that the death at the extended-stay motel is not being treated as a homicide. Police think the chemical killed the man, but they don‰??t know yet what chemical it is, or whether the man was exposed accidentally or on purpose.
Fire Capt. Eric Jackson said samples of a substance were recovered by a hazardous materials crew, and an autopsy will be performed by the medical examiner.
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TWO WORKERS INJURED IN CHEMICAL UNIT BLAZEIN VAPI GIDC
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/surat/two-workers-injured-in-chemical-unit-blazein-vapi-gidc/articleshow/64141912.cms
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, injury, solvent
Surat: Two workers suffered serious burns when a fire broke out in a chemical unit located in phase-2 of Vapi GIDC on Saturday.
Vapi GIDC‰??s fire department sources said the fire broke out at about 12 noon at Anand Enterprise located in phase-2. Three fire tenders were pressed into service to control the fire in the chemical unit.
The fire, according to fire officials, broke out following an explosion in the solvent barrel in the unit due to a short-circuit. The fire spread rapidly in the entire unit, forcing the workers to rush out. However, two workers were trapped inside the unit and later rescued by firefighters.
Assistant fire officer of Vapi GIDC phase-2 D N Waghela told TOI, ‰??The fire was in the chemical unit and it may be due to a short-circuit and explosion in the solvent barrel. It took more than two hours to cool off the entire unit.‰??
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CREWS CLEAN FUEL SPILL
http://www.post-journal.com/news/page-one/2018/05/crews-clean-fuel-spill/
Tags: us_NY, transportation, release, response, diesel
Volunteer firefighters and HAZMAT crews are pictured cleaning a fuel spill on Interstate 86 Friday. A tractor-trailer traveling west on I-86 in North Harmony hit an unknown object in the road, ripping a hole in the truck‰??s gas tank. All 100 gallons of diesel fuel emptied onto the shoulder of I-86. New York State Police, CVEU and the Chautauqua County Spill Response Team all responded to the scene. One lane of I-86 was closed while the spill was cleaned.
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EPA SIGNALS IT WILL BAN TOXIC CHEMICAL FOUND IN PAINT STRIPPERS ‰?? NATIONAL POLITICS ‰?? BANGOR DAILY NEWS ‰?? BDN MAINE
https://bangordailynews.com/2018/05/11/national-politics/epa-signals-it-will-ban-toxic-chemical-found-in-paint-strippers/
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, methylene_chloride
The Environmental Protection Agency signaled Thursday it will follow through on an Obama-era proposal to ban paint strippers containing a toxic chemical ‰?? leaving lawmakers, environmental groups and the families of victims cautiously optimistic.
Since taking office, Pruitt has been laser-focused on undoing environmental and safety rules proposed by former President Barack Obama‰??s administration. But the EPA‰??s announcement that it ‰??intends to finalize‰?? a proposed ban on methylene chloride would be the exception.
‰??Today‰??s announcement demonstrates EPA‰??s commitment to finalize the methylene chloride rule-making,‰?? the EPA said in a statement.
The chemical, used by professional contractors and do-it-yourselfers to remove paint, has been linked to dozens of deaths, including 12 people who specialize in refinishing bathtubs between 2000 and 2011 , according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.
But advocates of the ban reserved full-throated cheers until the rule‰??s language is made public and submitted to the White House‰??s Office of Management and Budget, which the EPA said will happen ‰??shortly.‰??
Sarah Vogel, vice president for health at The Environmental Defense Fund, said the nonprofit advocacy group was ‰??encouraged‰?? by the EPA‰??s decision but urged the agency to move quickly to formally block the access to the chemical.
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COSMETICS FACTORY HIT WITH SAFETY VIOLATIONS, PROPOSED FINES
http://www.recordonline.com/news/20180511/cosmetics-factory-hit-with-safety-violations-proposed-fines
Tags: us_NY, industrial, follow-up, death, flammables
NEW WINDSOR ‰?? The Occupational Health and Safety Administration walloped a New Windsor cosmetics factory on Friday with 11 safety violations, including 10 deemed serious and two repeat offenses, plus $281,220 in proposed fines.
The December OSHA inspection leading to the announcement was in response to Verla International‰??s explosive, deadly fire on Nov. 20, which killed 57-year-old employee William Huntington and prompted 125 workers to seek medical treatment.
The fire was caused by a preventable static electric spark from the transfer of the flammable liquid Hexamethyldisiloxane, according to Orange County fire inspectors.
OSHA confirmed that finding on Friday and again cited Verla, which received the same violation for failing to ground flammable liquids, their containers and pouring nozzles in 2016. Among Verla‰??s other serious offenses were its failure to:
n prevent flammable chemical vapors
n eliminate falling hazards
n reduce the pressure on compressed air-cleaning equipment to prevent potential air embolisms or the risk oxygen would enter employees‰?? veins
n clearly labeling how to disconnect the factory‰??s circuit breakers
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CHEMISTRY SAFETY EXPERTS AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES WARN SCHOOLS TO STOP UNSAFE SCIENCE DEMONSTRATIONS
http://www.wkrn.com/top-news/chemistry-safety-experts-warn-schools-to-stop-unsafe-science-demonstrations/1172474948
Tags: us_TN, laboratory, follow-up, injury, ethanol, flammables, solvent
The science experiment that caused a flash fire, injuring 17 children and a teacher at Merrol Hyde Magnet School on Wednesday was not a surprise to chemical safety experts across the country. They have been warning schools about unsafe lab demonstrations for years.
Word traveled fast to members of the American Chemical Society, Division of Chemical Health and Safety. Samuella B. Sigmann, a lecturer and Chemical Hygiene Officer at Appalachian State University in North Carolina, monitors chemical safety incidents. She has documented 32 similar incidents at school labs across the country, that injured at least 164 children and teachers.
The experiments used in schools have names like Green Flame, Rainbow Flame, Whoosher Bottle, and Alcohol Cannon, and all involve alcohol-fueled flame tests.
Sigmann says, "Safety professionals have been watching and trying to figure out how to prevent teachers from using flammable solvents in classroom experiments and demonstrations without proper ventilation and preventative controls in place."
Exactly how the fire started on Wednesday has not been released by Sumner County Schools. But it involved a chemical reaction caused by mixing boric acid and ethyl alcohol, according to Dr. Berchaun Nicholls, the Emergency Room physician who decontaminated and treated half a dozen children for burns at TriStar Hendersonville Medical Center.
Safety alerts have come from the American Chemical Society, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, the National Science Teachers Association and the National Fire Protection Agency, among others. For years, they have been warning teachers to use alternatives to alcohol- based flame tests or at least use safety equipment like fume hoods.
(Photo: U.S. Chemical Safety Board)
Dr. Ken Roy, Chief Safety Compliance Advisor at the NSTA, says, ‰??schools have a legal responsibility, under duty or standard of care, to make sure teachers are trained in how to work with, store and dispose of chemicals in a safer way before working in school science labs with students.‰??
He says before any experiment or demonstration, teachers must do a hazard analysis, a risk assessment and a review of safety actions with equipment like safety goggles and gloves on hand. And there should be a dry run first, without students in place. The NSTA provides many resources like its safety portal and safety blog to help teachers.
Roy is also Director of Environmental Health and Chemical Safety for Glastonbury Schools in Connecticut. He warns teachers should never do an experiment involving alcohol and an active flame or sparks out in the open on a demonstration desk. If they must use alcohol, instead of a safer alternative, do it under a lab fume hood.
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