Paper Topic:

Industrial Safety & Health Management

THE PHILLIPS DISASTER OF OCTOBER 1989

The Phillips Disaster of October 1989 pertains to a huge group of explosions that occurred right by the Houston Ship Channel located in Texas . The explosion was so strong that its effects could be measure on the Richter Scale as of 3 .5 magnitude . The fire was burning for approximately 10 hours before it could be controlled . The Phillips Disaster resulted in the loss of 23 lives and 314 casualties . The disaster started from an explosion in the chemical complex of the Phillips 66 Company , resulting

in the destruction of all the facilities existing in the area . It has been estimated that the disaster caused damages that were estimated to be approximately 715 million , as well as a disruption in the business production which would cost Phillips an additional loss of around 700 million

The explosion was triggered by the poor operating procedures in the Phillips chemical complex , resulting in the release of flammable vapors through the valves which in turn diffused immediately to the nearby polyethylene plants . It only took 2 minutes for the gases to interact with a source of ignition that resulted in a huge explosion that was comparable to the effect of an explosion of 2 .4 tons of TNT . According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (1990 , the Phillips Disaster was influenced by poor operating procedures in the chemical plant , including the employment of substandard valve for flammable gases . There were no gas detection and alarm systems existing in the area and in turn , there were several sources of ignition that were located around the locale . The chemical plant also had a poor ventilation system that provided a faster chance for the flammable gases to diffuse through the rest of the area . The chemical plant was also crowded with various types of equipment and there was insufficient space between reactions as well as room for emergency activities such as spillage and leakage responses

Reference

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (1990 : Phillips 66 Company Houston Chemical Complex Explosion and Fire : A Report to the President , United States Department of Labor , Washington , DC...

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