Safex Newsletter No.78 July 2023

Welcome to SAFEX’ s Newsletter, I hope you will enjoy and find much learning in it.

Executive Summary Newsletter 78

 

Dear Safex Members,

I live in Chile. A country that is located at the convergence of tectonic plates, the Nazca and South American to be more specific. This is a zone of high seismic activity known as the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Although earthquakes are a reality of Chile, the country has developed a solid capacity for risk response and mitigation. This has been possible thanks to the experience accumulated over generations, which has contributed, to a great extent, to reducing their impact and protecting people's lives. It is a natural phenomenon that we cannot control, but we can mitigate.

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SAFEX Congress XX, Salzburg, Austria

After three false starts the 20th SAFEX Congress was held at the Salzburg Congress Centre and what a success it was.The Congress and preceding events were attended by 180 delegates from 50 countries.

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ESD Work Group SALZBURG

At the Salzburg Congress about 30 people met to discuss SAFEX resources to support our members in identifying and managing the hazards from electrostatic discharges (ESD). Our current Good Practice Guide on ESD hazards was updated most recently in 2012 and is a very good source of information to support ESD risk assessments....

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SAFEX eLearning modules - ENAEX

At the recent SAFEX Congress in Salzburg, an update on the available eLearning modules, formats, translations, and its use had been given. Though starting early in the morning, we experienced high participation of attendees to listen in. On the 2nd day of the congress, Maria Virginia Ramirez (‘Marivi’) gave a presentation with the title ‘Emanation of Nitrous Gases in [the] Nitration Process’ at ENAEX Rio Loa plant in Chile. The paper discussed the immediate and root causes and inconsistencies in the emergency procedures very openly. 

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PETN workshop in Austin Red Diamond

Austin Powder installed a new continuous PETN process at the RD facility several years ago. The plant was the most recent design and very similar to one installed by EXSA in their Lima Plant...

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Challenges of Plant Decommissioning

Many of us have already experienced the satisfaction of participating in a new project and the construction of new plants. This is a great experience. However, like any other man-made structure, explosives plants also have a limited life span and will reach the end of their operational life and eventually require a decommissioning.

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Stop work Authority Card

The safety culture at EPC-UK has evolved significantly over the past two decades, with the introduction of our visionary STOP WORK AUTHORITY CARD initiative and the effect it has had on our employees, customers, and values, cited as a particular triumph.

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Peace Technology

A paper by the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences published in 2015 reported a study on ”Peace Technology”, i e non-military (technical) measures that can help remove obstacles to the return to (or creation of) a normal, peaceful society.

The study focused on some nations affected by war and armed conflict, in a situation where large-scale fighting has ceased and the community should be geared towards normalization. There are often many obstacles, but some might be possible to eliminate or at least reduce through the use of existing technolo­gies...

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Ammonium Nitrate and Fertilizer Safety

In this book, the author - Kishore (Kish) Shah - has attempted to consolidate advanced expertise and practically relevant literature published over the last century. He has supplemented that with his own observations, experience and analysis, to provide an accessible resource of reliable and practical information on hazardous behaviour of AN-based products and corresponding safety implications.

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