Organisational and human factors Archives - Page 6 of 31 - La référence du retour d'expérience sur accidents technologiques

In a paper mill, the cone-shaped bottom on a black liquor storage tank (with pH 13) experienced mech…

08/07/2011
FRANCE

In a paper mill, the cone-shaped bottom on a black liquor storage tank (with pH 13) experienced mechanical failure at 8:47 am. When the incident occurred, this 600-m³ capacity tank was holding 500 m³ of liquor which drained in less[...]

Explosion of a paper pulp storage tank

18/01/2011
FRANCE

The summary of this accident has not yet been translated. In the meantime, please refer to the French summary : Vers 8h40 dans une papeterie soumise à autorisation, une cuve de 1 000 m³ remplie à 95 % avec de[...]

Distillation unit rupture and flames in a chemical plant

11/01/2011
FRANCE

An explosion occurred around 1:40 am in a formulation reactor upon completion of camphorsulfonic acid loading into the toluene for the purpose of drying by means of azeotropic distillation. The explosion injured 1 technician due to the direct (blast) effect[...]

Implosion of a non-degassed butadiene tanker car

27/12/2010
FRANCE

An empty butadiene tanker car not yet degassed was in transit at a marshalling yard. Due to the ambient cold temperature (-17°C), the gaseous phase of the butadiene liquefied (Tboiling=-4.4°C); cistern pressure was drawn down by an estimated 0.35 bar[...]

Aerosol warehouse explosion

05/11/2010
ROYAUME-UNI

Fire broke out around 1 pm in a warehouse for sanitary aerosol products. The facility contained some 4,000 pallets of spray cans, whose average ingredients consisted of 60% LPG and 40% ethanol by weight; it also housed an equivalent number[...]

Rupture of a red aluminium sludge pond

04/10/2010
HONGRIE

Around noon, a red sludge basin at an aluminium production site employing some 1,200 personnel broke over a 50-m length, releasing 1 million m³ of highly basic sludge; 10 people were killed and another 286 injured (due to chemical burns[...]

Release of styrene following a power cut

14/07/2010
FRANCE

At 10:46 pm during a thunderstorm, an electrical outage interrupted polystyrene (PS) production at a chemical site where 27 of the 160 employees were on the job. A safety disc broke and styrene was released. The crystal manufactured polystyrene (CMP)[...]

Burst of a superheated steam pipe in a fertilizer factory

28/06/2010
FRANCE

At 11:15 pm, a violent and loud bursting occurs within an ammonia (NH3) synthesis unit at a SEVESO-classified nitrogenous fertiliser plant. The convex base welded to a heat-insulated, high-pressure water vapour pipe connected to catalytic reforming equipment had burst prior[...]

Fire at a 15.000 t storage facility for used tyres

20/06/2010
GRECE

A large fire broke out at an open used-tire storage in an industrial area, near a recycling plant that had started its operation only two months earlier. The fire expanded fast and covered the whole pile of the tires, estimated[...]

Buried for 36 years at a depth of 2.5 m on a Seveso-rated plant involved in liquefying air on behalf

13/06/2010
FRANCE

Buried for 36 years at a depth of 2.5 m on a Seveso-rated plant involved in liquefying air on behalf of Lorraine's regional industry, an oxygen (O2) pipeline pressurised at 40 bar burst at 1:45 pm along the property boundary,[...]