Accidents associated with ammonia
This study foccuses on accidents associated with ammonia and refrigeration.
Are retention systems passive ?
While their design may be simple, tried and trusted, and they are considered, in certain cases, as "passive" systems, retention devices nevertheless require particular vigilance. The numerous accidents recorded in the ARIA database remind us a certain number of good[...]
Lightning: industrial accidentology
Lightning, often associated with the powers of gods in mythology, can have serious impacts on industrial facilities and entail human, social, environmental and economic consequences. The ARIA database records about 100 lightning accidents that took place in France between October[...]
Accidents in confined spaces
Many industrial accidents involve work conducted within confined areas, where the primary risk has been generated by the latent or accidental presence of an either flammable, toxic or simply oxygen-deficient atmosphere. The objective of this analysis is to build awareness[...]
Silos storing plant products
We need to pay special attention to the circumstances under which accidents in silos storing plant products take place. Experience shows that the frequency of accidents is far higher during the working phase including the preventive or curative maintenance, change,[...]
Heat waves, intense heat : risks alerts, and not just for fire !
Periods of intense heat cause many fires, especially within the agricultural sector. But a heat wave can also give rise to other phenomena like: solvent evaporation within warehouses containing sensitive substances (nitrocellulose, peroxides, etc.), the accumulation of inflammable vapours in[...]
CO2 extinguishing systems
Gas-based extinguishing processes become attractive when water cannot be used (e.g. computer equipment, audio/video archives, ship engine rooms), yet the associated risks must not be underestimated, as witnessed by the example of CO2 systems.
Mix of incompatible products
The accidents presented in this flash involve chemical reactions between incompatible products inadvertently placed into contact with one another. Encountered in all types of activities, such accidents are frequent and occur not only during the delivery of chemical products (wrong[...]
Intense cold weather : beware of freezing… and then thawing !
Periods of intense or extended cold weather, accompanied by temperatures well below 0°C or varying abruptly with corresponding freezing and thawing phases, are prone to incidents and accidents.
Flooding strikes a solvent recycling factory
The summary of this accident has not yet been translated. In the meantime, please refer to the French summary : Une usine chimique classée Seveso recyclant des solvants usagés est inondée à partir de 6 h lors d'une crue de[...]
