¶ … Hazardous Materials Incident
Key Lessons for Preventing Hydraulic Shock and New Cumberland, WV Metal Dust Explosion and Fire are two case studies that will be examined in this report. One examines a metal dust explosion and fire and the other involves a pipe that catastrophically failed thus leading to the release of more than 32,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia. Each also gives formal detailed reports on significant chemical accidents and include key findings, root causes, and safety recommendations. With that said, this essay will summarize the findings of each investigation, and compare and contrast the two incidents with respect to the chemicals involved, underlying hazards, accident causes, and recommendations from the CSB.
Casse study one: The New Cumberland, West Virginia Fire Explosion
This case study examines a metal dust explosion and fire at the AL Solutions facility in New Cumberland, West Virginia. The incident resulted in three employee fatalities and one contractor injury. The explosion and ensuing fire damaged the production building and ultimately caused the shutdown of the plant.
Background
The New Cumberland production facility is a place that was operated all day everyday 7 days a week non-stop. The company had processing equipment for metal milling, blending, pressing, and treatment for water. A normal shift, involved four operators that managed the production building which involved the following: two press operators, one blender operator, and the shift supervisor. Usually, the shift supervisor was in charge of the water treatment and mill. When it was about 12 noon, on the day of the disaster, the day shift operators came back to work from lunch. At this time, two operators were operating the three presses making titanium and zirconium compacts, and another operator was at the blender, blending a batch of zirconium. When the clock struck 1:20 P.M., directly before the outburst, an electrical contractor spotted around 6 feet outside a partly open door heard a loud noise that he described to U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) investigators as a "metallic failure & #8230; like something popped & #8230; or fell." (AL Solutions Case Study, 2010)
Casse study Two: Millard Refrigerated...
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