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Seveso

Facility:

ICMESA Chemical Company, Seveso, Italy
Date: Jul 1976
Consequences: No fatalities but thousands of people suffered from dioxin poisoning. The Seveso disaster led to the birth of EU safety legislation (Seveso Directive).
Fatalities: None
Description
of Accident:

Rupture of the bursting disc on batch plant for the manufacture of 2,4,5-trichlorophenol (TCP) led to the release of highly toxic dioxin. Dioxin is not normally formed but the reactor got too hot resulting in a runaway reaction which caused a rise in pressure leading to the disc rupture.

 

The maintenance staff heard a whistling sound and a cloud of vapour was seen to issue from a vent on the roof giving rise to the formation of a dense cloud of considerable altitude. The release lasted some 20 min.
Key Lessons
Learnt:

·         Plant Siting

Housing developments had been built around the area after the plant had been established.

 

·         Acquisition of companies operating hazardous processes

The management of the company ultimately responsible for the plant was not familiar with the hazards. The latter company owned a second company which itself owned ICMESA.

 

·         Hazard posed by ultratoxic substances need to be well understood and the risks properly managed

 

·         Failure to adhere to operating procedures

 

·         Planning for emergencies

Information on the chemical released and its hazards was not immediately available from the company. Communication between the company and the regulatory authorities was inadequate which resulted in a failure to protect and communicate with the public.

 

·         Emergency planning and safer design of reactors were also given greater priority after the accident.

 

The most important implication of the Seveso disaster is the impulse that it gave to the creation of a European Community directive for Major Accidents Hazards (1982).
Report: Seveso.pdf
Links:

Lees’ Loss Prevention in the Process Industries: Hazard Identification, Assessment and Control, ed. Mannan, S., 3rd edition, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 2005

 

Learning from accidents, Kletz, T., 3rd edition, Gulf Professional Publishing, 2001.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007