The document summarizes hazmat incidents reported in the media in 2011, with 1869 total events reported. The United States accounted for the largest number at 1406 events, followed by the UK, India, and Canada. Most events occurred in industrial settings and involved releases or explosions. Laboratory incidents accounted for 151 events, with the majority resulting in a fire department response and some injuries but few deaths. Common chemicals involved included unknown substances, acids, and solvents. The information aims to increase awareness of routine hazmat incidents and promote safe chemical handling practices.

1. HAZMAT 2011: What Happened Where?
Ralph
Stuart,
CIH
Secretary,
Division
of
Chemical
Health
and
Safety
secretary@dchas.org
Where
the
Informa5on
Comes
From
What’s
the
Big
Picture?
Each day, Google identifies headlines from around the English speaking world for stories
that contain various combinations of “hazmat”, “chemical”, “fire”, “explosion” and
Location of events and keywords included in the media
“laboratory”. These stories are reviewed and tagged with keywords that identify the stories
location, sector, type of event, extent of the event, and the chemical involved. These
stories are then placed on the DCHAS pinboard site (http://www.pinboard.in/u:dchas) for
review and the opportunity to learn from other people’s bad experiences. Loca5on
Number
Distribu5on
of
among
About twice a year, these events are reviewed to provide some descriptive statistics of events
events
these events in terms of the parameters collected. While these numbers of some interest,
the primary purpose of this effort is to maintain people’s awareness of the types of events United
States
1406
75%
that happen routinely (7 to 10 times per day) and the value of good practices in the UK
105
6%
handling, use, and storage of chemicals of all kinds.
India
79
4%
This information is particularly important in the laboratory setting, where hazardous Canada
69
4%
chemicals are used in unusual ways, and where there are less established methods for Australia
68
4%
controlling the hazards of the work being done with chemicals. This collection of events Other
65
3%
can help laboratory workers run “what-if” scenarios in order to anticipate potential safety
issues they may run into as their work proceeds. New
Zealand
29
2%
China
26
1%
Ireland
17
1%
South
Africa
5
0%
Total
1869
100%
What
are
the
Pa9erns?
What
Happens
in
Labs?
Economic Sector Sector Count
Percent
There were 148 laboratory events reported by Google in 2011 (about 3/week). These
generally indicate that there was a response by a public fire department. The media report
Industrial
636
34%
keywords are below. Meth labs are excluded from these events.
Public
634
34%
Transporta.on
353
19%
Laboratory
151
8%
Educa.on
95
5%
Type of Event Type
of
event
Count
Percent
Release
994
53%
2011
Lab
Hazmat
Events
by
Extent
Explosion
349
19%
Death,
4,
3%
Fire
342
18%
Discovery
178
10%
Response,
90,
61%
Injury,
53,
36%
Environmental
,
1,
0%
Extent
of
event
Count
Percent
Extent of Event Lead
chemical
Count
Response
1143
61%
Unknown
chemical
61
Injury
516
28%
Acids
15
Death
121
6%
Solvent
14
Environmental
Time-­‐sensi.ve
8
impact
89
5%
Others
50
For
More
Informa5on
Chemical
Count
Percent
Chemicals Involved Unknown
460
25%
Follow the DCHAS twitter stream: @acsdchas
Meth
lab
125
7%
Follow the C&EN Safety Zone blog:
Ammonia
81
4%
http://cenblog.org/the-safety-zone
Petroleum
72
4%
Chlorine
59
3%
Join the Chemical Health and Safety Division: Our e-mail list, DCHAS-L , not only tells
you about these incidents, it also has discussions about how to prevent them!
HCl
46
2%
Solvents
40
2%
Waste
29
2%
Ag
chemicals
37
2%
Pool
chemicals
33
2%
Others
887
47%
RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION DESIGN © 2011
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