Organisational and human factors Archives - Page 6 of 32 - La référence du retour d'expérience sur accidents technologiques

Explosion in a pharmaceutical preparation factory

19/11/2011
FRANCE

At a plant producing substances used in medical imaging, a temperature control defect on a biconical dryer caused product decomposition during the drying cycle. The subsequent pressure surge led, around 10 pm, to the explosion of part of the glass[...]

Overflow of a petrol tank in an oil depot

22/10/2011
FRANCE

In an oil depot, 3,750 m³ of unleaded gasoline were transferred from one storage tank to another at the end of the afternoon by remote control from the site's control room in order to prepare for a barge loading. Around[...]

Explosions at a petrochemical site

21/10/2011
FRANCE

At a petrochemical plant, a pipe supplying air to a steam production boiler exploded at 3:40 pm, triggering a few seconds later a 2nd and more powerful explosion on a duct used to recover volatile organic compounds (VOC). The explosion[...]

Fire in a tank caused by lightning in a refinery

17/09/2011
FRANCE

Several lightning strikes were recorded in a refinery at 7:25 pm, one of which caused the expansion space to explode on a 2,000-m³ capacity buffer tank (for collection and settlement) filled with 770 m³ of process water. The hydrocarbon supernatants[...]

In a paper mill, the cone-shaped bottom on a black liquor storage tank (with pH 13) experienced mech…

08/07/2011
FRANCE

In a paper mill, the cone-shaped bottom on a black liquor storage tank (with pH 13) experienced mechanical failure at 8:47 am. When the incident occurred, this 600-m³ capacity tank was holding 500 m³ of liquor which drained in less[...]

Explosion of a paper pulp storage tank

18/01/2011
FRANCE

The summary of this accident has not yet been translated. In the meantime, please refer to the French summary : Vers 8h40 dans une papeterie soumise à autorisation, une cuve de 1 000 m³ remplie à 95 % avec de[...]

Distillation unit rupture and flames in a chemical plant

11/01/2011
FRANCE

An explosion occurred around 1:40 am in a formulation reactor upon completion of camphorsulfonic acid loading into the toluene for the purpose of drying by means of azeotropic distillation. The explosion injured 1 technician due to the direct (blast) effect[...]

Implosion of a non-degassed butadiene tanker car

27/12/2010
FRANCE

An empty butadiene tanker car not yet degassed was in transit at a marshalling yard. Due to the ambient cold temperature (-17°C), the gaseous phase of the butadiene liquefied (Tboiling=-4.4°C); cistern pressure was drawn down by an estimated 0.35 bar[...]

Aerosol warehouse explosion

05/11/2010
ROYAUME-UNI

Fire broke out around 1 pm in a warehouse for sanitary aerosol products. The facility contained some 4,000 pallets of spray cans, whose average ingredients consisted of 60% LPG and 40% ethanol by weight; it also housed an equivalent number[...]

Rupture of a red aluminium sludge pond

04/10/2010
HONGRIE

Around noon, a red sludge basin at an aluminium production site employing some 1,200 personnel broke over a 50-m length, releasing 1 million m³ of highly basic sludge; 10 people were killed and another 286 injured (due to chemical burns[...]