Industrial and Chemical Disasters

Industrial Disasters are disasters caused by any chemical, mechanical, civil, electrical, or other processes. The failure caused by an accident, negligence, or incompetence at an industrial plant can spread to areas inside or outside the plant, cause loss of life and property, and harm the environment.

Chemical Disasters 

• Chemicals are at the heart of modern industrial systems and have thus raised severe concerns for disaster management within the government, the private sector, and the wider community
• Due to chemical disasters, the industrial plant, its employees, workers, residents living in nearby settlements, etc., are at the highest risks
• The chemical disasters may primarily be due to the following three reasons:
  • Human errors
  • Technical errors
  • Management errors
• These accidents are significant in loss of lives, injuries, pain, suffering, and damage to property and the environment. Even after the Bhopal tragedy, India witnessed a series of chemical accidents
• According to the National Disaster Management Authority’s website, there are approximately 1,861 significant accident risk (MAH) units in all country zones, spread across 301 districts, 25 states, and three centrally administered areas. In addition, there are thousands of registered and hazardous factories (below MAH standards) and unorganized sectors dealing with a wide range of dangerous materials that pose severe and complex catastrophic hazards

Following are the various provisions on chemical disaster management, prevailing in the country:

• The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued concrete guidelines on chemical disaster management. These guidelines are designed to guide ministries, departments, and state authorities to prepare detailed disaster management plans
• These guidelines provide a participatory, proactive, multidisciplinary, and multi-sectoral approach to various levels of disaster aptness and response

NDMA Guidelines on Chemical Disasters:

• Strengthening the present regulatory framework to meet the defined national policies and aspirations and augmenting technical support functions
• Providing the supportive and technology-neutral regulation framework
• Legislation on land use policy (buffer zone around the chemical industry)
• Standardization of national codes and practices
• Emphasis on identifying and selecting professional organizations and their accreditation and regular safety audits
• Commissioning and decommissioning of chemical industries
• Preparation of plans for On-Site and Off-Site preparedness
• Regular testing of emergency plans through exercise
• Medical responders and medical inventory are needed to deal with particular chemical accidents at the affected site
• Hospital Crisis Management Plans for Chemical Emergency Management
• Concept of mobile hospital and mobile teams
• Issues related to public health response, medical rehabilitation, and adverse environmental effects
• Post-disaster documentation and analysis

Chemical Terrorism

• Anti-national elements find chemical terrorism easy to adopt and cost-effective. They are adopting new methods, but they are also becoming more aggressive. The primary purpose of terrorists is to intimidate the population, gain attention, or force a legally established government or organization to act or refrain from doing anything
• Chemical terrorism involves using chemicals to destroy lives, injure humans and animals, and thus cause panic, chaos, and disorder
• Agents of chemical terrorism can be solids or liquids and have various toxic effects on humans, animals, or plants. These can be sprayed through airplanes, dropped as bombs or any other medium, or used in liquid to imperil the environment and people
• A terrorist attack involving chemical agents may differ from a normal terrorist attack. It results in specific effects on health and can cause injuries, create panic, affect community morale, and lower trust in government
• For example: In 1650, Polish artillery General Seminox fired saliva shells of mad dogs at his enemies
• Disasters caused by acts of chemical terrorism are thus a high-priority area for India. Terrorist attacks involving chemical agents can be a highly traumatic event. Therefore, National Disaster Management Authority has also come out with Guidelines for Chemical (Terrorism) Disasters: The NDMA Guidelines emphasise
  • Safety and Supervision Measures for Chemical Manufacture/Use/Storage Facilities
  • Strengthening intelligence regarding the movement of chemicals
  • Preparedness for counter-terrorism measures:
    • Issues related to the safety of chemicals, risk reduction strategies, etc
    • Strengthen the response through rescue and emergency medical resources
    • Preparing all emergency workers in safety detection, decontamination, capacity building, and infrastructure development
    • Community-centric mechanisms for chemical (terrorist) disaster management
• Role of Civil Society and the Private Sector: There is a need to promote the role of all civil society sectors and the private sector along with the government in the implementation of guidelines and DM plans

Conclusion

Because chemicals are at the heart of contemporary industrial processes, they have become a major source of worry for disaster management in the government, corporate sector, and society at large. Chemical catastrophes may be severe in their effects on humans, resulting in fatalities as well as harm to nature and property. The industrial facility, its employees and workers, hazardous chemical trucks, people of neighbouring towns, adjacent buildings, occupants, and the surrounding community are the components most at danger as a result of a chemical accident.