SALIENT PROVISIONS OF CHEMICAL ACCIDENT ( EMERGENCY PLANNING, PROCEDURE AND RESPONSE )RULES ,1996 (AMENDED 1999)

1. Statutory provision for setting up of crisis groups at National state , District and locations having major accident hazards .
2. CCG is headed by secretary to govt. Of India , Dept.of Environment and forests .
3. Duty of CCG is to develop Crisis Alert system.
4. State crisis group is headed by chief secretary with following functions.
4.1. Reviewing district off-site Emergency Plan and send report to CCG.
4.2. Assist state government in managing chemical accidents at site .
4.3. Assist state government in planning preparedness and mitigation of major chemical accident
4.4. Continuous monitoring of Post Accident situations.
4.5. Review progress reports submitted by district Crisis Group.
4.6. Publish list of experts concerned with Management of chemical accidents.
5. District Crisis Group is headed by District Collector.
6. The function include .....
6.1.Assist in preparing district off-site Emergency Plan.
6.2. Review of on-site emergency plans of major accident hazard installations.
6.3.Assist district Administration in management of chemical accidents.
6.4. Continuous monitoring of chemical accidents.
6.5. Ensure Continuous information flow to CCG and SCG regarding accidents and mitigation measures.
6.6. Forward chemical accident within fortnight .
6.7. Conduct atleast one full mock drill.
7. Local Crisis Group (LCG) is each industrial pocket having major accident hazards headed by sub-divisional magistrate .
8. The functions include ...
8.1. Prepare local emergency plan for the pocket .
8.2. Train personnel involved in chemical accident management.
8.3. Aware public about remedies and preparedness for accident.
8.4. Conduct mock drill atleast once in six months
8.5. Respond public enquiries on the subject.

Salient Provisions of Central Motor Vehicle Rules

1. The carriage transporting hazardous goods shall display a distinct mark of the class lable of the dangerous goods with prescribed mode , class label size , colour code etc .
2. Emergency information panel shall be displayed in the carriage used for transportation of hazardous goods .
3. The consigner shall supply adequate safety information to the transporter and transporter shall make all the necessary information for sale transport available .
4. The driver of the carriage must have sufficient understanding of the carriage from the owner of the carriage in writing .
5. The driver shall observe all precautions all the times in case of an accident and report to the nearest police station

Salient Provisions of Manufactures , Storage , Import , Hazardous Chemical Rules , 1989

1.List of 684 hazardous chemical notified. 
2. Isolated storage of hazardous chemicals dealt separately
3. Different authorities identified for regulation at various stage of handling of hazardous chemicals.
4. Three  level of control depending on hazard potential
5. Site approval of isolated storage risk Analysis.
6. Third party safety audit every year
7. Preparation of on-site & off-white emergency plans
8. Regulatory agencies - Inspectorate of factories ,SPC Board , District collector controller of Import & Exports , controller of explosives.

When conducting an illness and injury record analysis , how long might it take to collect information from a site

A . 1 Year
B. 1 to 7 months
C. 1 months
D. 3 to 5 years

A documents that lists items involved in an accident, the way in which each item can fail, the effects of the failure and means of detection and action is an example of

1.Fault tree analysis
2. Failure mode effect Analysis
3. Hazards identification and risk assessment
4. Job safety analysis

FIRE - Anotomy and its classification

Fire is an exothermic chemical reaction in which combustible material combines with oxygen in the atmosphere to give out heat and flame. But once fire has begun, the heat produced may often be sufficient to support or even accelerate the process. The materials involved in the combustion process may be in solid, liquid or gaseous state. They are also identified as two or three-dimensional

Two-dimensional fires are those where fire and fuel are on a single plane or flat surface. Ground fire or trench fire fall in this group of fires.Three - dimensional fires are complicated fires of falling liquid streams or fuel under pressure escaping from a container. Fire resulting from leak of transformer oil falls under this category.
Fire is not happen by their own self. It require some elements,Four factors/ Elements must be required in order before combustion occurs.

Heat-Sufficient to raise the temperature to ignition point Oxygen at sufficient quantity FuelChemical Chain reaction of above three mixtures.
These Four elements may be represented in the form of a Tetrahedron.

  Just as removal of one or more sides of a tetrahedron causes its breakdown, the removal of one or more factors causes the fire to cease.

Stages of Fire
The Fire Triangle/Fire Tetrahedron

Except explosion, most fires have humble starting and grow through the following four stages of combustions:

Incipient stage: At this stage decomposition is occurring at the surface of the fuel due to the influence of some form of heat. Products of combustion given off at this stage are invisible to the eye.
Smouldering Stage: At this Stage, up to 10% of the decomposing products released at the surface of the fuel are visible.
Flaming Stage: Vapours from the decomposing fuel have ignited and are at the stage where flames are self-propagating.
Heat stage: At this stage the burning has progressed to the point where the fire is still small but generating sufficient heat to warm the air immediately around the fire sending warm products of combustion upwards by convection. The above principle is used for the selection of fire detectors.

Classification of Fire as per Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)
Combustible substance can be present in three states - solid, liquid and gaseous state. The burning of most materials produces a flame, this occurs when vapour or gas given off by the liquid or solid materials is ignited. Depending upon the nature and state of the burning material, fires are generally classified into A, B, C or D type.

Class - A: Fire
These are fires involving solid materials, normally of carbon compounds in which combustion.
Generally occurs with the formation of glowing embers. These types of fires are most common.Examples of Class A - fires are fires involving wood, rags, paper, plastic coal etc.

Class - B: Fire
These fires involve flammable liquids or liquefiable solids. That is, fires occurring in vapour-air mixture over the surface of flammable liquids such as gasoline, oils, paints & thinners. These types of fires occur in storage tanks and chemical storages.

Class - C: Fire
These are fires involving liquefiable gases like propane, butane, LPG, H2, etc.

Class - D: Fire
These are fires that occur in combustible metals such as magnesium, Titanium, Sodium etc. For Controlling such fires, special extinguishing agents/equipment and techniques are to be used.

CARBON-MONOXIDE(CO)

Although the popularity of carbon monoxide (CO) alarms has been growing in recent years, it cannot be assumed that everyone is familiar with the hazards of carbon monoxide poisoning in the home.

Often called the invisible killer, carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas created when fuels (such as gasoline, wood, coal, natural gas, propane, oil, and methane) burn incompletely. In the home, heating and cooking equipment that burn fuel are potential sources of carbon monoxide. Vehicles or generators running in an attached garage can also produce dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.

The dangers of CO exposure depend on a number of variables, including the victim's health and activity level. Infants, pregnant women, and people with physical conditions that limit their body's ability to use oxygen (i.e. emphysema, asthma, heart disease) can be more severely affected by lower concentrations of CO than healthy adults would be.

A person can be poisoned by a small amount of CO over a longer period of time or by a large amount of CO over a shorter amount of time.

In 2010, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated 80,100 non-fire CO incidents in which carbon monoxide was found, or an average of nine such calls per hour.  The number of incidents increased 96 % from 40,900 incidents reported in 2003. This increase is most likely due to the increased use of CO detectors, which alert people to the presence of CO.

·      Safety tips

·         CO alarms should be installed in a central location outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home and in other locations where required by applicable laws, codes or standards. For the best protection, interconnect all CO alarms throughout the home. When one sounds, they all sound.

·         Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for placement and mounting height.

·         Choose a CO alarm that has the label of a recognized testing laboratory.

·         Call your local fire department’s non-emergency number to find out what number to call if the CO alarm sounds.

·         Test CO alarms at least once a month; replace them according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

·         If the audible trouble signal sounds, check for low batteries. If the battery is low, replace it. If it still sounds, call the fire department.

·         If the CO alarm sounds, immediately move to a fresh air location outdoors or by an open window or door. Make sure everyone inside the home is accounted for. Call for help from a fresh air location and stay there until emergency personnel.

·         If you need to warm a vehicle, remove it from the garage immediately after starting it. Do not run a vehicle or other fueled engine or motor indoors, even if garage doors are open. Make sure the exhaust pipe of a running vehicle is not covered with snow.

·         During and after a snowstorm, make sure vents for the dryer, furnace, stove, and fireplace are clear of snow build-up.

·         A generator should be used in a well-ventilated location outdoors away from windows, doors and vent openings.

·         Gas or charcoal grills can produce CO — only use outside.

·   Symptoms of CO poisoning

·         CO enters the body through breathing. CO poisoning can be confused with flu symptoms, food poisoning and other illnesses. Some symptoms include shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, light headedness or headaches. High levels of CO can be fatal, causing death within minutes.

·         The concentration of CO, measured in parts per million (ppm) is a determining factor in the symptoms for an average, healthy adult.

·          

·         50 ppm: No adverse effects with 8 hours of exposure.

·         200 ppm: Mild headache after 2-3 hours of exposure.

·         400 ppm: Headache and nausea after 1-2 hours of exposure.

·         800 ppm: Headache, nausea, and dizziness after 45 minutes; collapse and unconsciousness after 1 hour of exposure.

·         1,000 ppm: Loss of consciousness after 1 hour of exposure.

·         1,600 ppm: Headache, nausea, and dizziness after 20 minutes of exposure.

·         3,200 ppm: Headache, nausea, and dizziness after 5-10 minutes; collapse and unconsciousness after 30 minutes of exposure.

·         6,400 ppm: Headache and dizziness after 1-2 minutes; unconsciousness and danger of death after 10-15 minutes of exposure.

·         12,800 ppm: Immediate physiological effects, unconsciousness and danger of death after 1-3 minutes of exposure.