BASF plant explosion toll rises to three fatalities

20th Oct 2016- Ludwigshafen, Germany – Divers today fished out a body from the Rhine river, which could be the third fatality of the explosion accident that took place at the BASF site in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The body is yet to be identified. Six people were injured in the accident and saw huge plumes of … Read more

Explosion at Airgas Facility in Florida- CSB deploys investigative team

Nitrous Oxide

Washington, DC, August 30, 2016 — After the fatal explosion at the Airgas facility in Florida, an investigative team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is deploying to the scene. The Airgas facility is located next to the Ascend Performance Materials plant in Cantonment, Florida, outside Pensacola. The facility has a chemical manufacturing plant … Read more

Toxic gas leakage and fire at Bayer Cropscience facility in India

Ankleshwar, India, Mar 11, 2010- A toxic gas leakage and fire at the Bayer Cropscience facility has reportedly resulted in one fatality up to now, say local news reports. The toxic gas is believed have consisted of Mercaptans and Phosphorous compounds. The cause of the accident is not yet known and the local authorities are … Read more

Hazards of hot work-CSB issues safety bulletin

This blog has consistently pointed out that many people working in industry seem to be unaware about the dangers of doing any “hot” work in a plant without a “gas test”.  Despite several disasters that have been directly caused due to following this simple rule, nobody seems to have learnt lessons. The US Chemical Safety … Read more

Phosgene leak at DuPont facility leads to temporary closure

Jan25, 2010- The latest in a string of accidents and safety issues at DuPont’s Belle, W.Va facility was a phosgene leak that resulted in a fatal accident. A braided steel hose connected to a  phosgene tank suddenly ruptured, releasing phosgene into the air rsulting in one fatality. Phosgene is one of the deadliest chemicals ever … Read more