Advanced Search
NaTech And French Industrial Facilities

NaTech and French industrial facilities

Analysis of the ARIA database shows a sharp increase in NaTech events in French industrial facilities between 2010 and 2019. NaTech accidents are technological events that have been triggered or exacerbated by intense natural phenomena, such as floods, high temperatures[...]
Read more
Video “From Incident To Media Crisis”

Video “From incident to media crisis”

How does a technically insignificant incident turn into a media frenzy? This new film, produced by the BARPI, explains the sequence of malfunctions that led to the release of a highly olfactory component. A timeline presents how the media crisis[...]
Read more
Runaway Reactions, Case Studies, Lessons Learned

Runaway reactions, case studies, lessons learned

Runaway reactions are a major source of industrial accidents. They can occur in a wide array of sectors, including chemicals, petrochemicals, food processing, plastics and rubber manufacturing, and metalworking and are primarily caused by a loss of process control. The[...]
Read more
Hydrofluoric Acid : The Worst Of All Acids?

Hydrofluoric acid : the worst of all acids?

Despite being produced 200 times less than sulphuric acid (1 M vs. 200 M tonnes/year), the ARIA database has recorded nearly 80 accidents involving hydrofluoric acid (HF) (vs. 220 for H2SO4). A series of recent accidents serves to recall its[...]
Read more

Chronic leakage of toxic effluents in a chemical plant

  • ALLEMAGNE
In a chemical plant, a leak of effluents containing acetonitrile (a harmful and flammable solvent) from the process wastewater system lead to groundwater contamination. As the network was used only sporadically, the duration of the leak could not be accurately[...]
Read more
Flooding Of A Petrochemical Site

Flooding of a petrochemical site

  • ROYAUME-UNI
A storm surge coinciding with high tides flooded the salt caverns used to store hydrocarbons at a petrochemical site. The alert was given at around 11:00 p.m. by a technician who was conducting a patrol. The remote-controlled shut-off valves were closed[...]
Read more

Mixing of incompatible products

Transfer of chemicals between fixed and mobile tanks may cause mixtures of incompatible products. This risk is all the more pernicious as the mixture usually involves "classic" substances and widely used: bleach, acid ... This fact sheet presents some lessons[...]
Read more