Organisational and human factors Archives - Page 7 of 31 - La référence du retour d'expérience sur accidents technologiques

Explosion in a pharmaceutical factory

10/06/2010
ITALIE

An explosion occurred around noon while conducting hot work (with a disc saw) on a 320-m³ fixed-roof tank at a pharmaceutical plant employing 240 personnel. The tank cover was blasted 20 m away and the subcontractor performing cutting works was[...]

Naphtha pipeline rupture at an underground salt cavern storage site

01/05/2010
FRANCE

Around 7:20 pm, at the time of injecting naphtha originating from a refinery, a steel pipeline (DN 500-62 bar: 7 mm thick) burst open at a site dedicated to underground hydrocarbon storage using saline cavities in the heart of the[...]

Fire of solar panels on the roof of a warehouse

14/01/2010
FRANCE

Fire broke out around 3:30 pm on the roof of a 15,000-m² warehouse covered by 1,000 m² of solar panels (totalling some 660 panels). The building, inaugurated in November 2009, had received an HQE (highest environmental quality rating) certification; it[...]

Explosion in an plant manufacturing polymers

23/11/2009
FRANCE

In an upper-tier Seveso-rated plant manufacturing polymers used for water treatment applications, and despite the differentiated storage and packaging zones, a technician assigned the morning shift poured by mistake 1 to 2 kg of sodium hypophosphite classified non-hazardous into a[...]

Leakage of a pipeline in a nature reserve

07/08/2009
FRANCE

A leak was discovered on a crude oil pipeline (diam.: 40'', maximum service pressure: 40 bar, built in 1972) composed of welded rolled tubes. The accident occurred on a Natura 2000 site in the Crau Natural Reserve, home to several[...]

Tank explosion in a chemical plant

04/08/2009
FRANCE

An empty 100-m³ reservoir of sulphuric acid (H2SO4) exploded at 9:15 am at a chemical site. Installed directly above its retention basin at a height of several metres, this "F2" reservoir was projected and fell nearby, toppling the scaffolding set[...]

Explosion in a chlorine-alkali plant

23/07/2009
ALLEMAGNE

A lightning strike caused a voltage drop on the power supply of a chlorine-alkali plant using the mercury process. The emergency electrical system was activated, though restoring the external supply voltage in less than 200 ms rendered the entire system[...]

Explosion and fire at a chemical plant

11/07/2009
PAYS-BAS

In a chemical plant producing mainly cellulose derivatives, an explosion and fire occurred at about 4 pm during the restart of a production line stopped for 9 h after a breakdown. The commissioning of the vacuum belt filter by the[...]

Explosion of LPG wagons

29/06/2009
ITALIE

Shortly after crossing a train station at a speed of 90 km/hr around 11:45 pm, the conductor of a convoy of 14 railcars containing 110 m³ (45 tonnes) of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) felt a jolt and noticed the derailment[...]

Chlorine leak in an industrial gas plant

27/05/2009
FRANCE

Liquid chlorine (Cl2) leaked out inside an industrial gas plant during air pressure drainage of a railcar. The previous day at 2 pm, 2 experienced technicians connected a Cl2 railcar in accordance with the procedure entitled "Railcar acceptance/hook-up", consisting of:[...]