Question

Research, read, and critically analyze a current published news article, research article, or report associated with an industrial accident/incident related to materials handling. In your discussion posting, address the following: Needs 20 be around 2-3 pages please

1. Cite your news source, article, or report and provide a link to where it can be located. Provide full APA reference including from where the document was retrieved.

2. Provide an entry summarizing the accident/incident. Be sure to describe the materials handling hazards that contributed to the incident.

3. Based on what you have learned in the module, discuss control strategies or programs that were deficient and formulate a discussion as to what control strategies and/or programs were needed to prevent this incident.

Answer 1

IOCL Terminal Jaipur Fire Case

It was tragic day in the history of oil industry, the incident which happened in one of oil installation of Indian oil corporation Jaipur .The fire was a major disaster in terms of deaths, injury, loss of business, property and man-days, displacement of people, environmental impact in Jaipur, the capital city of the Indian state of Rajasthan.

There was normal receipt of Petrol through pipe line   in one of the petrol storage tank. Within the next few hours the concentration of petroleum vapour accumulated around the wall of the tank farm area due to leakage from hammer blind valve of the Petrol tank and resulting in to huge accumulation of petrol vapours. This resulted in to the sudden fire in the tank as per the eyewitness .   In view of safety reasons the Hotel in the vicinity of the terminal asked all its guests to vacate the Hotel to avert any tragedy. Adjacent to the Terminal wall was the workshop of Morani Motors (P) Limited whereas per eyewitnesses the Cars parked on the roof top were thrown up in Air to about 10 feet and 35 new Hyundai brand cars were completely damaged. The police, civil administration and fire emergency services were oblivious of the situation developing in Indian Oil Terminal

At 7:35 p.m. a huge ball of fire with loud explosion broke out engulfing the leaking petrol tank and other nearby petrol tanks with continuous fire with flames rising 30–35 m (98–115 ft) and visible from a 30 km (19 mi) radius. The traffic on adjacent National Highway No. 12 was stopped leading to a 20 km (12 mi) long traffic jam. The Jaipur International Airport is just 5 km away from the accident site.

Both the Army and experts from Mumbai Units were employed on 30 October 2009 to contain the fire, which started when an oil tanker caught fire at the depot in the Sitapura Industrial Area. The district administration disconnected electricity and evacuated nearby areas to limit the damage.

The fire still raged, in the Indian Oil Corporation Depot, at Jaipur, after a defective pipe line leak that set fire to 50,000 kilolitres (1,800,000 cu ft) of diesel and petrol out of the storage tanks at the IOC Depot. By then, the accident had already claimed 11 lives and seriously injured more than 150.

Deficiency and Suspected Causes:

• Sequential operation of hammer blind valve not followed.
• Absence of specific written-down procedures for the works to be undertaken and, therefore, reliance on practices.
• Not using proper protective equipment while attempting rescue work.
• Improper communication of the accident by the person on site to other people.
• Communication during emergency was not very clear.
• Delay in communication to outside authorities by IOCL officials .

Control Strategies and Recommendations:-

• Ensuring availability and observance of site specific operating procedures
• Use of communication facilities- PAP system, Walkie Talkies, Electrical sirens, Alarms duly interlocked with routine operations
• Training on use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
• Enhancing automation levels, and other measures like design features such as dual level gauges and alarms to avoid possibility of a tank overflow
• Installation of Hydrocarbon detectors, and CCTV with alarm feature