Risk Management Exercise
MPH 632: Environmental and Occupational Health Risk Assessment -Practice Lab
Background: Residential proximity to significant chemical production facilities puts residents at risk. The risk management exercise presented a scenario of a mid-size city in the Southeast. The city had several major chemical production facility employers within 10 miles of the city center. The use and storage of substantial quantities of Methyl isocyanate (MIC) by one of the chemical facilities that produce carbamate pesticides was a significant concern for the safety of the residents and the workers of the chemical manufacturing facilities.
Key Question: What are you going to do about the risks?
Method: The assignment involved the identification of the opportunities to minimize or eliminate the risk associated with the scenario and suggested risk management recommendations to ensure safety and security for workers, residents of the community, and the environment. The risk management recommendations were summarized in a bulleted list, listed according to the level of importance. In addition, the paper included an implementation method of the recommendations and a justification for each recommendation.
Findings: Based on what we learned in the course, I found nine significant recommendations to follow to ensure safety and security for workers resident of the community and the environment. My finding included a detailed description of industrial practices for the safe use and storage of MIC, a few basic safety procedures for every chemical facility, good practices for secure handling of hazardous material, risk management for fire and explosion, pesticide handling, hazardous waste, and hazardous material transport.
Recommendations: Safe use and storage of MIC has particular safety guidelines and industry standards to follow. My recommendation included the adoption of emergency preparedness and planning for the facility. An alternative procedure for carbamide production could be adapted, which does not need the storage of large quantities of MIC. Adaptation of frequent industry-standard training to save the use and storage of MIC for all the employees, including guidelines for the proper use of personal protective equipment, was provided. The facility management had to develop a plan to prevent accidental releases of these substances and ensure that the industry and adjacent communities could respond effectively in case of a release. The plan must be revised and resubmitted every year to EPA. An alternative chemical process without MIC should be considered to eliminate or reduce the use and storage of methyl isocyanate. The bottoms and sludge of the given chemical facility should be regarded as hazardous waste and discharged and disposed of following industry regulations.
Public health significance: About 177 million people in the United States live near over 12,000 high-risk chemical plants all over the United States that use or store dangerous chemicals with an elevated risk of industrial chemical catastrophes. Methyl isocyanate is a volatile, colorless liquid, extremely flammable, and potentially explosive when mixed with air. The liquid and vapor are toxic when inhaled, ingested, or exposed to the eyes or skin. MIC is related to the significant catastrophic incident in December 1984 when nearly 40 metric tons of MIC leaked into the air from the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India. The use of MIC can be a significant health concern for the residential communities adjacent to chemical plants, use, and store MIC. Adapting a safer process could eliminate or reduce the hazards associated with chemical processing.