HSE&S (HEALTH , SAFETY , ENVIRONMENT AND SECURITY) IN CHEMICAL INDUSTRY

Responsible Care® Product Safety Code

We enjoy healthier and longer lives, thanks, in part, to remarkable innovations in chemistry. From life-saving medical devices to airbags, from child safety seats to clean drinking water, chemistry is at the heart of making our lives better and safer.
As valuable as the products of chemistry are, they also must be used responsibly. The chemical industry is committed to the safe, responsible, sustainable management of chemicals through their life cycles and for their intended uses.
That’s why ACC and its members developed the Responsible Care Product Safety Code to drive continuous improvement in chemical product safety as part of the industry’s signature environmental, health, safety and security management system.

Responsible Care Product Safety Code

Core Elements of the Product Safety Code
The Product Safety Code includes a set of 11 Management Practices, through which chemical manufacturers can evaluate, demonstrate and continuously improve their product safety performance, while also making information about chemical products available to the public.
Specifically, the Product Safety Code Management Practices verify that chemical companies do the following:

• Undertake scientific analyses of their products, and take steps to assure they can be used safely.
  
• Enhance cooperation and communications along the chemical value chain, so that chemical producers and the manufacturers, distributors and retailers who use, handle or sell chemicals, work together to improve awareness about the safety and risks of certain chemicals, and how to manage chemicals safety along the value chain.
  
• Consider impacts on public health, the environment and overall sustainability as they improve their products or develop new ones.
  
• Determine whether the chemicals they make pose risks, based on any new research, how the chemical is used, and whether children and other sensitive groups come into contact with them.
  
• Provide the public with access to product safety and stewardship information.
  
• Ensure that company senior executives, including the CMD, commit to a culture of product safety and accountability.
  

In 2013, the 25th anniversary of Responsible Care in the United States, ACC is launching an enhanced Responsible Care

For 25 Years...A History of Excellence
Since 1988, Responsible Care has helped American Chemistry Council (ACC) member companies significantly enhance their performance, discover new business opportunities, and improve employee safety, the health of the communities in which they operate and the environment as a whole, moving us toward a safer, more sustainable future.
In 2013, the 25th anniversary of Responsible Care in the United States, ACC is launching an enhanced Responsible Care that strengthens industry’s commitment to the safety of its products and manufacturing process, and includes new operational energy efficiency and performance measurements.
The Responsible Care Milestones Timeline highlights significant milestones in Responsible Care since it was enacted in Canada in 1984 and adopted in the United States in 1998.
A Commitment to Health, Safety and Security

Participation in Responsible Care is a condition of membership for ACC members and Responsible Care Partner companies, all of which have made CEO-level commitments to uphold the program elements. The Responsible Care Guiding Principles are at the heart of the Responsible Care commitment—through these principles, members and Partners pledge to improve EHS&S performance for facilities, processes and products throughout the entire operating system.
Companies also are committed to open and transparent reporting and submit annual data on their progress toward meeting performance measure goals. This information is made publicly available on this website.
Fast Facts:

• Responsible Care is a global initiative that began in Canada in 1984 and is practiced today by 57 national and regional associations in 65 economies around the world.

• The U.S. chemical industry invests more than $16 billion annually in environmental, health, safety and security programs.

• Since 1974, the U.S. chemical industry as a whole has improved its energy efficiency by 54 percent.

• Responsible Care companies have invested almost $13 billion to further enhance security at their facilities in the past decade.

• Responsible Care companies are committed to worker safety. They are five times safer than the average of the U.S. manufacturing sector as a whole, and nearly three times as safe as the business of chemistry overall.

• Responsible Care companies have reduced process safety incidents by 58 percent over the past 18 years.

• From 1988 to 2011, Responsible Care companies have reduced hazardous releases to the air, land and water by more than 76 percent.

NFCL IS DEDICATED TO COMPLY WITH ALL THE SYSTEMS WITH RECENTLY RC 14001

 

Today's rapidly changing business environment confronts managers with a complex set of internal and external stakeholder demands. Senior management is seeking increased efficiencies and cost savings to remain competitive in the global marketplace while maintaining a safe workplace. At the same time, an organization's customers seek assurance that it can meet exacting standards for quality; avoid disruptions due to economic, environmental, health, safety and, more recently, security factors; and lower costs through more efficient production and better management of the supply chain. In addition to these important business drivers, managers must continue to respond to the public's environmental, health, safety and security (EHSS) performance expectations for the organization's manufacturing activities, as well as its products, as they move from production to final use and disposal.

The American Chemistry Council's member companies and Responsible Care partners developed the RC14001 technical specification as a tool to better integrate EHSS activities within their business operations while also meeting commercial and other stakeholder demands for improved performance. RC14001 uses the ISO 14001 environmental management system (EMS) standard as a platform, adding health and safety and security issues to the management system's scope. RC14001 also includes specific Responsible Care elements related to transportation and supply chain management, product stewardship and stakeholder engagement, all of which require managers to consider hazard and risk issues well beyond their organization's physical boundaries.

Organizations that have conducted RC14001 audits report improvements in the following areas: employee training and awareness, purchasing controls for EHSS service providers and vendors, integration of EHSS goals and objective-setting processes, contractor qualification and selection, integrating internal auditing procedures, and coordination and management of the EHSS-related activities (e.g., sales, marketing, research and development, commercial partner selection, security, etc.) traditionally "owned" at the corporate or business- division level.

Background: ACC and Responsible Care
The American Chemistry Council (www .americanchemistry.com) is the nation's largest trade association representing the business of chemistry. ACC's 130 member companies and their 880,000 employees represent about 85 percent of the total chemical production volume in the United States. These organizations manufacture thousands of products that are essential to our modern way of life.

Responsible Care, the industry's EHSS performance-improvement initiative, was adopted by ACC as an obligation of membership in 1988. In 1992, ACC expanded the initiative's reach by creating a partnership program for organizations such as barge, rail, warehouse, bulk-liquid terminal storage and trucking companies, all of which handle chemicals in the supply chain. The Responsible Care partner program now includes more than 80 companies ranging from class one railroads to logistics management companies.

Responsible Care is centered on key requirements that are intended to improve the overall performance of the industry, respond to stakeholder concerns regarding the industry's operations and its products, and assist companies in improving their overall business operations. These key Responsible Care requirements include annual reporting of specific EHSS performance data on a publicly available Web site (www.responsiblecare-us.com); adhering to a set of guiding principles that establish the framework for EHSS activities; implementing a security code that requires enhancements of physical (i.e., site) security, cyber security and security of products in the supply chain; and certifying Responsible Care management systems through a third-party audit process.

RC14001 was developed as one option for Responsible Care third-party certification for ACC members and partners in 2002. Member companies requested that a process be developed to allow them to meet customer demands for ISO 14001 while also meeting their ACC Responsible Care certification requirements. Successful completion of the audit results in two certificates, one for ISO 14001 and one for RC14001. A second option for certification, known as RCMS, was developed for use by companies that want to meet their ACC certification requirements, but have no need for ISO 14001 certification. Like RC14001, RCMS is a classic policy-plan-do-check-act management system model, but is focused specifically on Responsible Care elements and doesn't include certain requirements found in ISO 14001 and RC14001. RC14001 is available to any organization regardless of its business profile, provided its audit meets ACC certification requirements. (See www.rctoolkit.com for information on the Responsible Care initiative and its key requirements.)

RC14001: building a better management system
The initial question asked by individuals unfamiliar with the Responsible Care certification process concerns the differences between RC14001 and ISO 14001. There are a number of significant differences, beginning with the expanded scope of the audit. RC14001 follows ISO 14001's outline in its entirety, and companies seeking RC14001 certification must demonstrate conformance to ISO 14001 to successfully gain their RC14001 certificate. However, wherever the word "environment" appears in the ISO 14001 text, companies implementing RC14001 are required to add "Responsible Care health, safety and security" to the scope of the activity. The environmental policy now becomes an environment, health, safety and security policy or, better yet, a Responsible Care policy. Aspects and impacts, goals and objectives, and timetables now include a wider range of activities, including health and safety factors as well as security issues.

By expanding the scope of the management system, organizations have the opportunity to take a holistic view of their operations and products and to include multiple management disciplines in the system's development and implementation. As management silos are breached, the organization can begin to take advantage of cross-functional expertise and the more efficient use of pooled resources. RC14001 provides organizations with the opportunity to integrate their processes and procedures in planning, training, compliance monitoring, corrective action and measurement, record keeping, document control and management review. A number of ACC companies are integrating their quality systems with RC14001 to create a truly seamless business operation.

In addition to expanding the scope of the existing ISO 14001 elements, RC14001 includes 27 new requirements in the management system. These additional requirements focus on activities that the chemical industry and other business sectors have historically viewed as critical to the success of Responsible Care (or EHSS for non-ACC companies), including maintaining up-to-date risk information on products and processes, assessing transportation-routing risk for products, recognizing employee EHSS excellence, engaging in proactive outreach and dialogue with stakeholders, participating in industry mutual assistance activities, qualifying commercial partners based on EHSS performance, measuring the EHSS performance of commercial partners, determining if customers can safely handle products, and assessing security vulnerabilities. In many cases, interactions with commercial partners aren't managed at the plant level, so an organization seeking RC14001 certification may be required to include headquarters and/or business unit personnel in the audit process. This can be an eye-opening process for departments and individuals who may have viewed themselves as immune from previous EHSS audits.

RC14001 and the supply chain
The chemical industry, like other sectors, is subject to market forces that require the efficient delivery of product to its customers. In the matter of chemical products, efficient delivery also means getting the product to the customer safely and with minimal disruption due to accidents or worker injuries. Selection of the correct carriers, toll manufacturers, storage facilities and logistics providers to support product movement to customers is a critical piece of the chemical business. Likewise, chemical companies are equally concerned about the ability of customers (and often their customers' customers) to handle their products safely. For more than 15 years, ACC members have worked closely with their commercial partners to steward products through the supply chain, sharing the industry's experience, knowledge and resources to eliminate any possibility that chemicals might be mishandled or otherwise misused.

RC14001 includes a number of requirements that focus on the industry's supply chain concerns and require specific product-stewardship actions, including reviewing EHSS performance when selecting a commercial partner (e.g., carriers, contractors, toll manufacturers, suppliers, etc.), reviewing commercial partners' ongoing performance on a periodic basis, and sharing risk information and working with commercial partners (including customers) to ensure safe handling of products. ACC members have learned that robust interactions on EHSS issues can help solidify existing supply chain relationships, lead to increased business opportunities and spread the Responsible Care ethic to others. RC14001 reinforces these requirements and opportunities.

A new dimension: security
Following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, ACC's member companies quickly closed ranks and moved to further strengthen the security of chemical operations and the chemical supply chain. Although the industry had always been concerned about the security of its operations, it was a traditional focus aimed at maintaining safe working conditions and operations, preventing acts of retaliation by disgruntled employees, or preventing theft of product and/or proprietary information. In 2002, ACC adopted a mandatory security code for its members and Responsible Care partners that required assessments of security vulnerabilities and implementation of countermeasures at company sites, within information technology/cyberstructure and along the supply chain. The code was written in a plan-do-check-act format so it could be incorporated into the RC14001 (and RCMS) management system model.

Organizations seeking RC14001 certification are required to make security an integral part of their management systems. As a result, security issues can be found among company aspects and impacts, employees are receiving security training, countermeasures are being implemented by organizations at their locations and in concert with their commercial partners along the supply chain, and security has become part of the internal checking, corrective action and management review processes. RC14001 certification and its continuing surveillance audits will continue to ensure that robust security programs are part of company management systems.

Ensuring credibility
In creating its Responsible Care certification process, ACC determined that it was necessary to develop a process that met the high expectations of its membership and the industry's stakeholders. Registrars seeking to conduct RC14001 audits must first be accredited to conduct ISO 14001 audits and then must conduct an additional witness audit for RC14001. RC14001 witness audits are conducted under the supervision of the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (www.anab.org) using established processes. As part of its commitment to continuous improvement, ACC is also working with registrars to identify common trends being reported on RC14001 certification audits so it can assist its members in improving their management systems and performance.

Individual auditors must meet ACC expe rience and qualification requirements to ensure that they have sufficient knowledge and expertise. ACC also requires auditors to attend and pass accredited Responsible Care auditor courses that provide comprehensive instruction on the initiative and its requirements, including new security issues. Finally, each auditor participating in the process is required to be certified by RABQSA International (www.rabqsa.com) or the Board of Environment, Health and Safety Auditor Certifications (www.beac.org). Auditor certification requirements include passing a Responsible Care test administered by BEAC.

In an effort to reach out to local stakeholders and make RC14001 more transparent, ACC has strongly encouraged its members to include the local public in their auditing process. To date, several ACC companies have invited local residents to attend all or part of their RC14001 audit as observers. In several cases, auditors have requested and been given access to local chemical company-sponsored community advisory panels (CAPs) so that they could gather evidence on the organization's implementation of outreach requirements found in the RC14001. ACC members are also sharing the results of their audits with local stakeholders as another example of meeting public expectations for transparency.

Conclusion
The RC14001 technical specification is providing ACC member companies, Responsible Care partners and a growing number of companies outside the chemical industry with a powerful tool to drive performance improvement and integrate their management systems. Although still a relative newcomer to the list of established management systems models, RC14001 has attracted widespread interest from companies in the oil and gas, automotive supply, mining, and other business sectors both in the United States and overseas. By giving companies the opportunity to conduct a single audit covering a comprehensive set of requirements, business managers can respond to multiple internal and external stakeholder expectations while minimizing the need for competing management systems models.

About the author
Daniel Roczniak is the director of Responsible Care implementation
and performance at the American Chemistry Council in Arlington, Virginia, where he manages ACC's Responsible Care certification and mutual assistance programs. QD

 http://dramarnathgiri.blogspot.in/search?q=MANAGEMENT+SYSTEMS+AT+NFCL

Blast: HPCL CMD promises probe

CPI (M) State secretariat member Ch. Narsinga Rao posing a question to HPCL Chairman and Managing Director S. Roy Choudhury and Executive Director V.V.L. Narasimham as MP T.Subbarami Reddy and Visakha West MLA Malla Vijaya Prasad look on at a review meeting in Visakhapatnam on Monday. Photo: K.R. Deepak

TOPICS

Says state-of-the-art facilities installed to fight fires and prevent accidents

HPCL Chairman and Managing Director S. Roy Choudhury on Monday said they could curtail the damage due to blast and fire leading to collapse of cooling tower at the Visakh Refinery by taking timely action.

Stating that they had installed world-class fire fighting equipment, he told reporters that they could prevent spread of fire to other sensitive units of the refinery due to immediate intervention.

Earlier, Rajya Sabha member T. Subbarami Reddy, Congress MLAs Malla Vijay Prasad and Ch. Venkataramaiah, CPI (M) State secretariat member Ch. Narsinga Rao and others interacted with Mr. Choudhury and other top officials of the HPCL and demanded enhanced compensation and permanent jobs to kin of contract workers killed in the blast. Mr. Choudhury said they had installed state-of-the-art facilities to fight fire and prevent accidents and had achieved compliance to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA)-Process Safety Management (PSM) standards.

Terming the August 23 blast as most unfortunate, he said they would take action against officials if they were found guilty. Contractors if found responsible would be blacklisted, he stated. He said they would engage international experts and go for third-party check before commissioning any project and promised to conduct probe into the accident with transparency. Due to timely action, fire that gutted Crude Distillation Unit-3 on May 17 was doused without any casualty.

Air ambulance

He said all those injured were being extended best possible health care in super-speciality hospitals. Instead of one-seater, they were trying to engage a three-seater air ambulance to carry patients with less than 50 per cent burns to Mumbai for better care. HPCL doctors have been brought from Mumbai to provide expert guidance.

To a question, HPCL Executive Director V.V.R. Narasimham said they had off-site and on-site emergency response system in place and an arrangement for mutual assistance with neighbouring establishments like the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and the Andhra Petrochemicals.

The Rajya Sabha MP thanked the HPCL management for agreeing to give compensation to the injured persons and consider jobs of permanent nature through workers’ societies to one member from the families of contract workers killed in the blast.

A Job Is a Dying Concept -Worker Health & Safety Principles-annually 2.3 million workers die across the world.

A Job Is a Dying Concept

Dr. John Howard, Director of NIOSH, gave the keynote presentation last Tuesday (June 19, 2012) at the American Industrial Hygiene Conference (AIHce).  In his talk, he focused on 7 trends that will define the future of occupational health and safety – demography, employment, discrimination, disability, governance, standards and professionalism.  In this blog post, I will focus on one – employment trends.
As Dr. Howard put it, “A job is a dying concept.”
He went on to elaborate – In prior generations, security was what defined employment; today, it is precariousness.  Work is increasingly contingent and less secure.  There is no promise of continuous employment – or, in a great many work situations, of even being considered an “employee.”
According to Dr. Howard, this employment trend has a significant impact on occupational health and safety. Within the current legal structures governing worker protection, non-employee workers are often unrecognized and unprotected.  Both workplace safety regulations and injury compensation schemes are based on one’s status as an employee. Yet, the risk of injury or death in the workplace is not related to a legalistic definition of employment – whether you are an “employee” rather than simply an individual laboring in the workplace.
Later in the week, Mike Wallace, from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), gave a presentation on the evolution of sustainability reporting and the need for new metrics for evaluating organizational performance related to occupational health and safety.
He started his presentation with the following statistic – annually 2.3 million workers die across the world. It is clear that workplaces are not safe and worker protection is often missing.
He sent on to note that, in the past, safety professionals have “stayed on the sidelines” in defining OH&S metrics for measuring organizational performance – unlike their environmental counterparts. Creating comparable metrics is often viewed as “too complex” and “too time consuming.” I have been spending time reviewing the draft of a new ISO document – Guide 82 – Guide for addressing sustainability in standards.  (For standards geeks, this document was recently circulated as Committee Draft 2 and is intended to be a guidance document for ISO standard writers.)
In reviewing this document, I noted that one of the intents of this document is to list general principles of sustainability.  To accomplish this goal, the document lists principles associated with several topics from environmental labeling and sustainable buildings to risk management and social responsibility.
In reviewing these lists of principles for other areas, I realized that I was not aware of a comparable list of worker health and safety principles.  As I discussed this with other OH&S professionals, they were not aware of any generally-recognized list of worker health and safety principles either.
I thought about it and came up with the following list of seven principles (modeled after the list of Quality Principles set out in ISO 9000).

 Worker Health and Safety Principles

 1.       Health and Safety Focus
Worker health and well-being is an important organizational resource to be protected through the prevention of injury and ill health.
 2.       Leadership Commitment
Top management needs to provide the leadership and resources necessary for effective management of OH&S issues
 3.       Worker Engagement
Workers need to have the information, opportunities and accountability necessary for them to actively participate in ensuring their own safety
 4.       Factual Approach to Decision Making
Decisions and actions related to evaluating and controlling OH&S risks should, to the extent feasible, be based on the analysis of factual information
 5.       Prioritization of Controls
Hazards should be controlled using process, equipment and facility controls before administrative controls and personal protective equipment are utilized
 6.       Prevention Instead of Reaction
Establishing systematic processes to identify and address OH&S risks is more effective than waiting until after an incident has occurred to react
 7.        Supply Chain Accountability
Organizations need to act ethically when transferring OH&S risks to others in their supply chain
 What do you think?  Let me know by posting a comment to this blog post – or sending me an e-mail at 

HPCL contract staff to go on strike from Monday

Visakhapatnam: Around 4,000 contract workers belonging to trade unions, who are working at various units of the state-owned HPCL-VR complex in the city, will go on strike from Monday demanding that the HPCL management take immediate steps to improve safety standards at the refinery.
The refinery, which saw one of the worst industrials accidents in its history on Friday evening, had been warned about its poor safety records but the management had ignored them, said state secretariat member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Ch. Narasinga Rao.
Rao said that too much dependence on contract workers for regular works at the refinery, besides comprising on safety standards had led to the fire mishap at the under-construction cooling tower at the complex in which eight people had died and 39 were injured.
President of HPCL-VR Contract Workers’ Association, M.J. Naidu said, “Though the management of the complex was responsible for the fire, it was trying to hush-up the incident by showing silly reasons for the accident.”
He added that around 4,000 contract workers of the complex would go on strike from Monday. Narasinga Rao said though the S.A. Jain Committee on the HPCL-VR blast in 1997 had recommended that contractual and daily wage workers should not be to employed at electrical, instrumentation and other hazardous units, the management had been ignoring the recommendations.
The contract workers also demanded that the management announce compensations of Rs 20 lakh to each of the injured as they would be unable to work even after recovering from their burn injuries.
Injured worker airlifted
Only one injured contract worker, P. Venkata Rao, 44, who suffered 45-50 per cent burns in the HPCL fire incident and was admitted to Seven Hills Corporate Hospital in the city, was airlifted to the National Burns Center in Mumbai for special treatment on Sunday night.
Union minister of oil and natural gas, Veerappa Moily, who had visited the HPCL site, had informed that workers who had sustained above 70 per cent burns and 17 contract workers who had sustained below 50 per cent burns would be airlifted.
However, sources said that that only one worker was airlifted to Mumbai in an air-ambulance and six more had been identified for airlifting. They added that it was not possible to shift all 17 injured as some were not responding to treatment and would be difficult to airlift. Meanwhile the condition of the 12 injured who were under ventilator continued to remain very critical.

HPCL Refinery: safety mechanism goes for a toss

 

The recommendations of Justice S.C. Jain Commission, which went into 1997 explosion that claimed over 60 lives, remain on paper

Safety mechanism in HPCL Visakh Refinery has again gone for a toss with most of the recommendations of Justice S.C. Jain Commission, which went into 1997 explosion that claimed over 60 lives, remaining on paper.

Incidentally, the August 23 blast and collapse of the cooling tower in the refinery triggered by unprecedented surge of hydrocarbons dealt a big blow to the safety record of HPCL five months after the company declared compliance to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)-Process Safety Management standards.

Informed sources told The Hindu that overdependence on contractors for work of perennial nature, which was strongly criticised by the Jain Commission, and cost-cutting measures leading to compromising on safety measures were exposing the refinery to frequent accidents.

Asked to comment on overdependence on contract workers, HPCL Executive Director V.V.R. Narasimham told this correspondent that though the number of contract workers was more, in all sensitive areas their work was being monitored directly by the engineers and other executives of the company.

The Jain Commission in its report said: “It is learnt that casual labour and contract labour is employed even in performing sensitive operational duties relating to the gas pipeline both for LPG and naphtha as well as other operational work. This should be strictly disallowed.”

The panel had recommended maintaining pipelines and valves in leak-proof condition with preventive maintenance schedule. It said valve history cards shall be ensured as per Oil Industry Safety Directorate protocol. It said “management shall ensure flow of technical information in case of emergency to the district off-site emergency authority. The plant emergency coordination team shall be provided with public warning system.”

No public address system was used to caution people living in Malkapuram and Sriharipuram after the blast on August 23. Even the alarm system turned ineffective due to massive gas surge, a fact admitted by Mr. Narasimham. Though the plant has gas leak detection and warning system, it is not known why it failed to prevent the huge surge of hydrocarbons.

Several workers present in the refinery had a providential escape when the Crude Distillation Unit-3 was damaged in a devastating fire three months ago. “Outbreak of fire and gas leakage in such a sensitive and hazardous industry is a matter of serious concern,” a senior official of HPCL, who retired recently, said.

Hazard Checklist: Flammable & Combustible Materials

Hazard Checklist: Flammable & Combustible Materials

HAZARD	satisfactory	Needs Attention	Target Date of Correction	Date Corrected
Are combustible scrap, debris and waste materials (oily rags, etc.) stored in covered metal receptacles and removed from the work site promptly?
Is proper storage practiced to minimize the risk of fire including spontaneous combustion?
Are approved containers and tanks used for the storage and handling of flammable and combustible liquids?
Are all connections on drums and combustible liquid piping, vapor and liquid tight?
Are all flammable liquids kept in closed containers when not in use (e.g., parts cleaning tanks, pans, etc.)?
Are bulk drums of flammable liquids grounded and bonded to containers during dispensing?
Do storage rooms for flammable and combustible liquids have explosion-proof lights?
Do storage rooms for flammable and combustible liquids have mechanical or gravity ventilation?
Is liquefied petroleum gas stored, handled, and used in accordance with safe practices and standards?
Are NO SMOKING signs posted on liquefied petroleum gas tanks?
Are liquefied petroleum storage tanks guarded to prevent damage from vehicles?
Are all solvent wastes, and flammable liquids kept in fire-resistant, covered containers until they are removed from the work site?
Is vacuuming used whenever possible rather than blowing or sweeping combustible dust?
Are fire separators placed between containers of combustibles or flammables, when stacked one upon another, to assure their support and stability?
Are fire extinguishers selected and provided for the types of materials in areas where they are to be used? Class A-Ordinary combustible material fires. Class B - Flammable liquid, gas or grease fires. Class C - Energized-electrical equipment fires.
Are appropriate fire extinguishers mounted within 75 ft of outside areas containing flammable liquids and within 10 ft of any inside storage area for such materials?
Are all extinguishers serviced, maintained and tagged at intervals not to exceed one year?
Are extinguishers free from obstructions or blockage?
Are all extinguishers fully charged and in their designated places?
Where sprinkler systems are permanently installed, are the nozzle heads so directed or arranged that water will not be sprayed into operating electrical switch boards and equipment?
Are "NO SMOKING" signs posted where appropriate in areas where flammable or combustible materials are used or stored?
Are safety cans used for dispensing flammable or combustible liquids at a point use?
Are all spills of flammable or combustible liquids cleaned up promptly?
Are storage tanks adequately vented to prevent the development of excessive vacuum or pressure as a result of filling, emptying, or atmosphere temperature changes?
Are storage tanks equipped with emergency venting that will relieve excessive internal pressure caused by fire exposure?
Are "NO SMOKING" rules enforced in areas involving storage and use of hazardous materials?
If a Halon 1301 fire extinguisher is used, can employees evacuate within the specified time for that extinguisher?
Is the transfer/withdrawal of flammable or combustible liquids performed by trained personnel?
Are employees trained in the use of fire extinguishers?
Name			Date

Increase of Carbon Dioxide

Increase of Carbon Dioxide
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is not listed as one of the pollutants in National Ambient Air Quality Standards and is not monitored under National Air Monitoring Programme (NAMP). CO2 is a Greenhouse Gas. An estimated amount of increase of CO2 in the atmosphere is in the order of 2.1 parts per million (ppm)/year has been observed during the last ten years. This was stated by Shrimati Jayanthi Natarajan Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment and Forests, in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

The Minister further stated that the Government have taken various steps including formulation of action plans to contain air pollution and CO2 which, inter alia, include:

(i) Notification of emission standards for various categories of industries processes and gensets, under the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986;

(ii) Implementation of action plans for improvement of the ambient air quality in 17 cities including Delhi;

(iii) Source Apportionment Studies undertaken in six metro cities;

(iv) Introduction of cleaner fuels (B.S. III/IV) as per the Auto Fuel Policy;

(v) Introduction of gaseous fuel in select cities and towns;

(vi) Sale and registration of B.S. IV compliant passenger cars in selected metropolitan cities and towns apart from national Capital Region;

(vii) Enforcement of stringent ‘Pollution Under Control (PUC)’ certificate scheme to check exhaust emissions from in-use vehicles;

(viii) Implementation of stringent emission norms for generator sets;

(ix) Use of beneficiated coal for coal based thermal power plants;

(x) Implementation of the recommendations of the Charter on Corporate Responsibility for Environment Protection (CREP) for seventeen categories of air polluting industries;

(xi) Notification of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (November, 2009);

(xii) Strengthening of National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Network;

(xiii) Inspection and monitoring of air pollution industries for compliance of the emission norms; and

(xiv) Strengthening of public transport including establishment of metro rail in a few select metropolitan cities.

(xv) National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) was released on June 30 2008. Two of the eight National Missions i.e. National Solar Mission and National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency relate to mitigation of emissions and include ambitious programmes aimed at generating solar power and conserving energy. Energy Efficiency mission envisages setting norms for achieving energy efficiency under Perform, Achieve and Trade Scheme.

RM/RS- USQ992 - LS
(Release ID :97996)

Sustainable Development

Sustainable Development The Government is aware of United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in June 2012 at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil wherein it was decided to initiate the inter-governmental process for developing global SDGs. The Open Working Group (OWG) has been formed by United Nations General Assembly on 22/01/2013 in which India is member of troika consisting of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The OWG has met for four times so far and India was represented by Permanent Mission of India (PMI), New York. This was stated by Shrimati Jayanthi Natarajan Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment and Forests, in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

The Minister further stated that we understand that Centre for Environment Education and TERI University are members of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

India, as in the past, will be participating in the 68th Session of United Nations General Assembly which will convene at UN Headquarters on September 17, 2013 and the General debate will open on September 24, 2013, the Minister added.

RM/RS- USQ923 - LS
(Release ID :97988)

Destruction of Forests

Destruction of Forests
Destruction of forests is not rampant in North-Eastern region in the country. However, as per India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2011, there is a reduction of 548 Sq. Kms. of forest cover in comparison to ISFR 2009 in the North Eastern States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. In Assam the decrease is attributed to illicit felling, encroachments in insurgency affected areas and shifting cultivation practices, whereas, in other NE States except Sikkim the decrease is due to shortening of shifting cultivation cycle and biotic pressure. This was stated by Shrimati Jayanthi Natarajan Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment and Forests, in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

The Minister further stated that there is no proposal to depute a high level team to verify reduction in forest cover in the North-Eastern States.

RM/RS- USQ937 - LS
(Release ID :97989)

Pollution in Gangotri, Yamunotri and Badrinath Dham

Pollution in Gangotri, Yamunotri and Badrinath Dham Ministry of Environment and Forests is not aware of any scientific report relating to ecological degradation in the famous Gangotri, Yamunotri and Badrinath dhams due to environmental change and pollution. However, a pilot study conducted on impact of hydropower in Bhagirathi Valley by G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development has indicated that the water quality parameters of the river are within the permissible limit. Further, survey of water quality of Yamuna and Bhagirathi River at Yamunotri and Gangotri undertaken by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in the Year 2009 to 2011 reveals that the water quality at both the studied locations are meeting the required criteria of Class ‘B’ i.e. water fit for ornanized outdoor bathing except in the year 2009 when total Coliforms violates prescribed limit. This violation of Total Coliforms may be due to rains leading to surface runoff or due to high number of pilgrims at the studied locations. This was stated by Shrimati Jayanthi Natarajan Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment and Forests, in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

The Minister further stated considering the ecological sensitivity of the region, several steps have been initiated by the Govt. of India to protect the ecology of Indian Himalayan Region including the Mission on Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem under National Action Plan on Climate Change. The Ministry of Environment and Forests, GOI, (MoEF) and G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development (GBPIHED) have jointly prepared the document “Governance for Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem- Guidelines and Best practices (G-SHE)”. The document contains background information about the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), guidelines and best practices covering a wide variety of issues, namely, Sustainable urbanization, regulated tourism, water scarcity, environmental awareness, energy options conservation area and forests zone management, monitoring networks and infrastructure development, etc. Specific guidelines for regulating tourists and pilgrimage is suggested for Himalayan region.

RM/RS- USQ1050 - LS
(Release ID :97999)

Uncontrolled Development in Himalayan Region

Uncontrolled Development in Himalayan Region The environment and forest clearance for various developmental projects, including those in hilly areas in the State of Uttarakhand, are granted after following statutory procedures. The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006 as amended from time to time, prescribes the procedure to be adopted for the grant of prior environment clearance in respect of developmental projects or activities stated in the Schedule to the Notification. Similarly, the diversion of forest land for non-forest activities is only allowed as per the provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and the rules and guidelines framed thereunder. This was stated by Shrimati Jayanthi Natarajan Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment and Forests, in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.

The Minister further stated in addition to the regular environment regulatory regime, the Ministry of Environment & Forests has notified vide S.O. NO. 2930 (E) dated 18th December, 2012, the entire watershed of about 100 kilometers stretch of the river Bhagirathi from Gaumukh to Uttarkashi covering an area of 4,179.59 squire kilometers in the State of Uttarakhand as Eco-sensitive Zone thereby inter-alia prohibiting and regulating certain activities within the Zone, the Minister added.

RM/RS- USQ1415 - RS

Quality of Imported Fertilizers

Quality of Imported Fertilizers

The total number of ships/containers inspected and ships/containers found non-standard by Central Fertilizer Quality Control & Training Institute (CFQC&TI), Faridabad and its regional laboratories during 2009-10 to 2011-12 are as under:-

Year	Number of ships/containers inspected	Number of ships/containers found non-standard
2009-10	1008	02
2010-11	1254	05
2011-12	1367	07

The imported fertilizers are tested by Central Fertilizer Quality Control & Training Institute (CFQC&TI), Faridabad and its regional laboratories at Chennai, Mumbai and Kalyani as per the procedure prescribed in Fertilizer Control Order (FCO), 1985.

In order to ensure availability of good quality of fertilizers to the farmers, the Government has promulgated the Fertilizer (Control) Order, 1985.  The specifications of various fertilizers have been specified under FCO, 1985.  The Fertilizer Inspectors of Central Fertilizer Quality Control and Training Institute (CFQC&TI), Faridabad and the Regional Fertilizer Quality Control laboratories at Mumbai, Kalyani and Chennai regularly inspect and collect fertilizer samples for quality check from all the fertilizer vessels discharging at Indian ports and analyse in their laboratory.  The subsidy on imported fertilizers is paid only if these fertilizers conform to quality specifications as per FCO.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers, Shri Srikant Kumar Jena in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

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DNM/NSK/DB

(Release ID :98135)