An investigation was performed into the Tianjin Port fire and explosion accident. It mainly focused on the process and causes. Initially, nitrocellulose burned spontaneously and the fire resulted in two major explosions of hazardous chemicals (mainly ammonium nitrate). Rough handling during the moving, loading and unloading of nitrocellulose directly resulted in the spontaneous combustion. Specifically, stacking various hazardous chemicals in the same area and storing ammonium nitrate in the port without permission caused the spread of the fire and the two major explosions. The implementation of Ruihai Company's management system (e.g., the safety training, safety supervision, etc.) for storage and transport of hazardous chemicals was deficient, and they neglected the importance of safety during production. Periodic safety inspection (e.g., the hazard identification, storage plan of hazardous chemicals, management system weaknesses, etc.) from local government agencies was not adequate and rigorous. Following accidents, casualties can be reduced or even avoided through adequate evacuation and rescue. Lessons can be learned from this disaster to avoid similar mistakes within the industry in the future.
Introduction: Senior managers' attitudes towards safety are very important regarding the safety practices in an organization. The study is to describe the current situation of senior managers' attitudes towards safety in the Chinese coal industry. Method: We evaluated the changing trends as well as the reasons for these changes in the Chinese coal industry in 2009 and in 2014 with 168 senior manager samples from large Chinese state-owned coal enterprises. Evaluations of 15 safety concepts were performed by means of a questionnaire. Results and Conclusions: Results indicate that, in 2014, three concepts were at a very high level (mean > 4.5), and six were at a relatively high level (4.5 > mean > 4.0). Analyses of changing trends revealed that nine concepts improved significantly, while four greatly declined in 2014 compared to those in 2009. The data reported here suggest that the reasons for the significant improvement with respect to the nine concepts include the improvement in social and legal environments, the improvement of the culture of social safety, workers' safety demands being met, and scientific and technical advances in the coal industry. The decline of the four concepts seemed to be caused by a poor awareness of managers in the coal industry that safety creates economic benefits, insufficient information on safety, inadequate attention to the development of a safety culture and safety management methods, and safety organizations and workers' unions not playing their role effectively. Practical Applications: We therefore recommend strengthening the evidence that safety creates economic benefits, providing incentives for employees to encourage their participation in safety management, and paying more attention to the prevention of accidents in coal mines via safety organizations and unions. These results can provide guidelines for workers, industrialists, and government regarding occupational safety in the whole coal industry.
An improved accident causation model which demonstrates the relationships among different causal factors was proposed in this study. It provides a pathway for accident analysis from the individual level to the organizational level. Unsafe acts and conditions determined by individuals’ poor safety knowledge, low safety awareness, bad safety habits, etc. are the immediate causes of an accident. Deficiencies in safety management systems and safety culture remain the root causes, which can cause consequences at the individual level. Moreover, the weaknesses of an organization’s safety culture can have a great impact on the formation of a good safety climate and can further lead to poor decision-making and implementation of procedures in the safety management system. In order to contribute to a better perception and understanding of the accident causation model, one typical case in the process industry, the oil leak and explosion of the Sinopec Donghuang pipelines, was selected for this study. The causality from immediate causes to root causes is demonstrated in sequence and can be shown in this model explicitly and logically. Several important lessons are summarized from the results and targeted measures can be taken to avoid similar mistakes in the future. This model provides a clear and resourceful method for the safety and risk practitioner’s toolkit in accident investigation and analysis, and the organization can use it as a tool to conduct staff trainings and thus to keep accidents under control.
Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a novel ablation method that has been tested in humans with lung, prostate, kidney, liver, lymph node and presacral cancers. As a new non-thermal treatment, the use of IRE to ablate tumors in the musculoskeletal system might reduce the incidence of fractures. We aimed to determine the ablation threshold of cortical bone and to evaluate the medium- and long-term healing process and mechanical properties of the femur in a rabbit model post-IRE ablation. The ablation threshold of cortical bone was between 1090 V/cm and 1310 V/cm (120 pulses). IRE-ablated femurs displayed no detectable fracture but did exhibit signs of recovery, including osteoblast regeneration, angiogenesis and bone remodeling. In the ablation area, revascularization appeared at 4 weeks post-IRE. Osteogenic activity peaked 8 weeks post-IRE and remained high at 12 weeks. The mechanical strength decreased briefly 4 weeks post-IRE but returned to normal levels within 8 weeks. Our experiment revealed that IRE ablation preserved the structural integrity of the bone cortex, and the ablated bone was able to regenerate rapidly. IRE may hold unique promise for in situ bone tissue ablation because rapid revascularization and active osteogenesis in the IRE ablation area are possible.
On March 21, 2019, a serious explosion of hazardous chemicals occurred in Tianjiayi Company located in Xiangshui Chemical Industry Park in Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province, China. Seventy‐eight people were killed and 716 were injured. It is the most severe accident since the globally recognized fire and explosion at a hazardous chemical warehouse in Tianjin Port, Tianjin, China in 2015. According to the preliminary analysis of the Yancheng accident and the review of previous studies about the Tianjin Port accident, there are similarities regarding the process of the two accidents. Therefore, in addition to reporting the investigation results of the Yancheng accident, an important aim of this work is to focus on the brief comparative analysis between it and the Tianjin Port accident. The comparisons were mainly conducted according to the basic information of the events, triggers and processes, individual factors, organizational management factors, external regulatory factors, and then the differences and similarities between the two accidents are summarized. Thus, useful lessons in the aspects of the storage and management of hazardous chemicals, safety training and accident learning, implementation of safety management system, government supervision, and so on, can be drawn to avoid similar mistakes within the industry.
Major accidents occurred frequently in the road transportation industry, and the resulting harm to drivers, property loss, and traffic interruption are very serious. This study investigated 11 particularly major accidents involving commercial vehicles in China, and performed analysis on accident characteristics regarding the time, location, types of vehicles, and accident causation at different levels based on the 24Model. Large buses and dangerous goods vehicles were involved in 10 accidents and they all occurred on a freeway. The months from May to August, especially during the time periods of 2:00–4:00 and 14:00–16:00 every day, were the most prone to accidents. The driver’s speeding and fatigued driving, and vehicle failure were the direct causes of most of the accidents. The defects in organizational safety management involved 12 system elements, such as safety accountability, education and training, etc. Procedures are of no use if they were not followed, and there was often no effective process to assess the implementation of procedures in many organizations. The weaknesses in organizational safety culture were the source of accidents, which was mainly manifested in members’ inadequate cognition of key elements in the aspects of safety importance, safety commitment, safety management system, etc. Understanding the characteristics and root causes of accidents can help to prevent the recurrence of similar mistakes and strengthen preventative measures in road transportation enterprises.
Compared with limestone-based wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD), magnesia-based WFGD has many advantages, but it is not popular in China, due to the lack of good wastewater treatment schemes. This paper proposes the wastewater treatment scheme of selling magnesium sulfate concentrate, and makes thermal and economic analysis for different concentration systems in the scheme. Comparisons of different concentration systems for 300 MW power plant were made to determine which system is the best. The results show that the parallel-feed benchmark system is better than the forward-feed benchmark system, and the parallel-feed optimization system with the 7-process is better than other parallel-feed optimization systems. Analyses of the parallel-feed optimization system with 7-process were made in 300, 600, and 1000 MW power plants. The results show that the annual profit of concentration system for a 300, 600, and 1000 MW power plant is about 2.58 million, 5.35 million, and 7.89 million Chinese Yuan (CNY), respectively. In different concentration systems of the scheme for selling magnesium sulfate concentrate, the parallel-feed optimization system with the 7-process has the best performance. The scheme can make a good profit in 300, 600, and 1000 MW power plants, and it is very helpful for promoting magnesia-based WFGD in China.
This paper performs an in-depth investigation and analysis on a catastrophic hazardous chemical accident involving domino effects in China based on an emerging accident causation model—the 24Model. The triggers and roots of the incident from the individual and organizational levels have been identified and several useful lessons have been summarized to avoid similar mistakes. This accident began with a leak of vinyl chloride caused by the failure of the gas holder’s bell housing and the operators’ mishandling. Leaked vinyl chloride was ignited by a high-temperature device in the process of diffusion and the fire quickly spread to the illegally parked vehicles. Several organizations were involved in this accident, and the chemical company should bear the main responsibility for it, and shall establish and implement an effective safety management system in its organizational structure and staffing, facilities management, hazards identification, emergency disposal, etc., to improve safety performance in a systematic way. Enterprises in the chemical industry park shall enhance the communication to clarify major hazard installations in their domains, and conduct regular safety evaluation for the plant as the external environment changed. Government agencies shall plan the layout of the chemical industry park scientifically and ensure safety starts with the design stage. The case study provides a practical procedure for accident investigation and analysis, and thus, preventive measures can be made according to the various causations at different levels.
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