Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Laboratories
Amy E. Theis and Charles F. Askonas
Fauske & Associates, LLC, Burr Ridge, IL 60527; theis@fauske.com (for correspondence)
Published online 23 April 2013 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/prs.11590
Keywords: laboratory safety; hazard identification; inherently safer design (ISD); MSDS Review.
MANAGEMENT COMMITMENT
INTRODUCTION
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June 2013
Volatility
Toxicity including health hazards and routes of entry
Corrosive properties
Reactivity with air, water or moisture
Unique properties
Verify safety information from more than one source. The
most conservative information should be used to develop
safe handling and test procedures
7. N/A means not available. Contact the technical support
of the manufacturer for more information
In some cases, the MSDS for a chemical does not provide
enough information for an appropriate safety review. This
can be due to many reasons. If the hazards identification section is brief or limited, a call to the technical support person
of the manufacturer is recommended in order to understand
the material better. The composition of the material with the
identification of the chemicals (and CAS numbers if
Process Safety Progress (Vol.32, No.2)
available) is important. Vague descriptions such as 90% solvent/inert, 10% reactive material do not provide enough information to determine the hazard of the material. A material
that is inert according to the manufacturer does not mean
that it could not decompose, react, or form a corrosive material when exposed to elevated temperatures. If the material
is a solvent, it must have a boiling point, density, and other
physical properties that need to be identified prior to testing.
For a material in development, test data may be limited or
not available. Contacting the chemist (or technical support
person) at the manufacturer is helpful, because they can
indicate generally whether it is acidic, basic, or neutral. In
some cases, testing may not have yet been performed on the
material, so they cannot provide specific ranges for flammable
limits, but some general information may be available. It is
not safe to assume that N/A means Not Applicable. It typically means Not Available and further investigation is necessary. If information cannot be obtained, the test is designed to
minimize or eliminate the hazard if it should be present.
Information regarding exposure controls are reviewed
and compared with information provided in the NIOSH
pocket guide [4]. If an MSDS for an exact chemical match
cannot be found, the MSDS for a chemical with the same
structure or functional groups can be used as a reference.
The most conservative values are used for the test design.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) required by the MSDS
are used at a minimum. In some cases, additional pieces of
PPE are selected for an increased level of protection.
The MSDS specifies the suitable fire extinguishing media
required for the chemical. This should be readily available in
the laboratory while tests are being performed. Proper PPE
should be worn in case of an accidental release or spill.
Appropriate clean-up equipment and procedures should be
readily available, and personnel should understand the procedures to follow if a spill should occur. For instance, when
strong acids are used, a bucket of water with baking soda or
caustic is readily available to neutralize a chemical spill.
Appropriate handling and storage conditions for the material should be followed. Information regarding storage, stability, reactivity, and proper disposal conditions is also
important. The MSDS should also indicate materials to avoid.
The chemical incompatibilities can be used to determine suitable materials for testing.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has
developed a system for indicating the health, flammability,
reactivity, and special hazards for many common chemicals
through use of the NFPA 704 Diamond. Ratings for health,
flammability, and reactivity range from 0 (no hazard) to 4
(most hazardous). These ratings apply only to the individual
chemicals, not to a mixture of chemicals. Additional information beyond the individual NFPA ratings is needed to identify
the hazards associated with the chemicals and test conditions
for a proposed experiment.
Another resource for chemical information is the Coast
Guard Chemical Hazards Response Information System
(CHRIS) [5], which provides chemical, physical, thermodynamic, toxicological, and fire properties for more than 1,000
chemicals. This information serves as an excellent supplement to the MSDS.
In addition to the MSDS, a chemical test questionnaire is
required for calorimetry testing. This contains critical information including the test recipe (composition), test conditions and procedure, chemical structures of reactants,
stoichiometry for the expected reaction, material incompatibilities, and possible decomposition products. Hazard identification of chemicals (reactants, intermediates, and products)
and the expected or possible chemistry/reactions is crucial to
developing an appropriate control strategy. The possible
decomposition products are important to understand,
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HAZARD CONTROL
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Appropriate control strategies are identified in test procedures that serve as administrative controls. Other administrative controls include safe handling procedures for unique
chemicals such as compressed or corrosive liquids and acid
gases.
CONCLUSIONS
Test personnel should be prepared to safely accommodate and dispose of all foreseeable reaction and decomposition products. Identifying the hazards given the reactants,
test conditions, and expected desired and potential decomposition products is critical. The required test equipment,
PPE, and test procedures must be identified to perform the
test, disassemble the apparatus, and dispose of all materials
safely. In summary, the components for maintaining a safe
work environment include: a safety culture established and
valued by management, diligent hazard identification, and
developing a hazard control strategy utilizing inherently safer
design concepts.
LITERATURE CITED
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