Simple graphical method for inherent occupational health assessment |
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| Authors: | Mimi H Hassim Markku Hurme David W Edwards Nik NNA Aziz Fariha LM Rahim |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Malaysia;2. Aalto University, School of Biotechnology and Chemical Technology, P.O. Box 16100, FIN-00076 Aalto, Finland;3. Granherne Limited, Hill Park Court, Springfield Drive, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 7NL, United Kingdom;1. Engineering HSE Group, HSE Systems Department, Engineering Division, JGC Corporation, 2-3-1, Minato Mirai, Nishi-ku, Yokohama 220-6001, Japan;2. Laboratory for Safety Engineering and Risk Management, Yokohama National University, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan;1. ITM-CNR, c/o University of Calabria, Via Pietro Bucci, Cubo 17/C, 87036 Rende (CS), Italy;2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Nanostructure Material Research Center, Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz 51335-1996, Iran;3. Department of Chemical Engineering, Urmia University of Technology, Urmia 57166-93187, Iran;1. Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China;2. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, PR China;1. Chemical Engineering Department, School of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz 71345, Iran;2. Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA;1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, National-Municipal Joint Engineering Laboratory for Chemical Process Intensification and Reaction, KeyLaboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies & Systems of the Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China;2. Green Intelligence Environmental School, Yangtze Normal University, Fuling, Chongqing, 408100, China |
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| Abstract: | The concept of inherently safer design was introduced to design a fundamentally safer process so that hazards can be avoided or minimized rather than controlled or managed. The ideology has later been extended to the environmental, but not health criteria due to its complicated underlying principles. Even though health risk methods are already established, majority are for existing plants assessment. Early consideration of health aspect starting from process design stage however, has received much less attention. This paper introduces a simple graphical method to evaluate the inherent occupational health hazards of chemical processes during the R&D stage. A survey was conducted to identify the important health parameters for the graphical method development, involving nine world inherent safety and health experts. Based on their input, process mode, material volatility, operating pressure and chemical health hazard (toxicity and adverse effect) are the significant factors affecting inherent health hazards of chemical processes. The choice of parameters was bounded by the information availability at this stage. The method was applied on six routes to methyl methacrylate and ten routes to acetic acid. The parameters were plotted for each subprocess of the alternative routes. The ‘healthiest’ route was selected based on thorough hazards assessment across all the subprocesses. The first case study reveals the tertiary butyl alcohol as the ‘healthiest’ one as it poses relatively lower, or at least comparable hazards to the other routes due to exposure and health impacts. Meanwhile the acetic acid case study indicates ethanol oxide and ethyl oxide based routes as the inherently healthier as they operate at lower operating pressure besides posing comparable hazards level for the other three parameters, compared to the other routes. The case studies show that the inherent occupational health of a chemical process can already be evaluated easily in the R&D stage with the simple graphical method proposed. |
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