Reducing the Risks of Petrochemical Companies - Essay Example

? Reducing the Risks of Petrochemical Companies Proposed Guidelines for Use in Industrial Applications I. Definition of the Problem The risk of Petrochemical companies could be divided to three criteria. In fact, these criteria consist of effective factors such as ergonomic harms, fires, and environment contamination. In order to decrease the potential hazards in petrochemical companies such as, injuries, explosion, and gases released the petrochemical companies should comply with the OSHA requirements. Petrochemical companies together with numerous safety agencies have dealt with particular dangers in the industry, particularly with regard to gas and oil drilling, and improving petrochemical practices by promoting several suggested procedures and practices. II. Description of the Problem In describing the problem, three risks of petrochemical companies have been recognized, namely, (1) ergonomic harms, (2) fires, and (3) environment contamination. First, ergonomics denotes the interface between human beings and the device and machine in the workplace. Workers in petrochemical companies are highly exposed to ergonomic harms, such as musculoskeletal disorders (common for workers of drilling companies), or diseases caused by toxic fumes or substances. The petrochemical accident in Bhopal, India will be the example that will be used for ergonomic harms. Second, petrochemical companies are also prone to accidental fires or explosions due to their handling of fuels, such as hydrocarbons. Good examples for this category are the fires and explosion in Texas and Louisiana. Third, petrochemical companies carry with it several environmental hazards, just like in China and Argentina wherein massive environmental catastrophes have brought about a cycle of damages to the health of the local population. Some of the examples that will be used in this category are the oil spills in Alaska and Gulf of Mexico. These major accidents have spurred a drastic expansion in risk management operations, locally and globally. And this research will try to come up with possible solutions to such dangers by analyzing the abovementioned large-scale petrochemical disasters. Petrochemical companies occupy a huge part of the global economy. The industry generates an extensive selection of products, such as propylene, ethylene, etc, which are the unprocessed materials for a wide variety of plastics. Generating and using such chemicals requires handling harmful substances and massive volumes of energy. Due to these circumstances, when there is an accident at a petrochemical plant, it can create disastrous effects III. Importance/Significance of Inquiry Petrochemical companies are currently an interesting issue for accident research. The petrochemical industry is somewhat rigidly connected, and has numerous intricately interactive elements. This research is interested in petrochemical companies because they demonstrate the existence of accidents in an established, efficient, modernized industry that has a significant financial interest to mitigate accidents. According to some studies, in petrochemical companies, with efficient management, advanced technologies, and powerful motivations to avoid disasters, the existence of accidents must indicate a phenomenon inherent to the mechanisms themselves (Galambos et al. 2007). In other words, petrochemical accidents are most probably internally caused. Therefore, finding out these internal causes to ergonomic harm, fires/explosions, and environmental contamination will almost certainly help in developing the best solutions to reduce the potential hazards in petrochemical companies. Therefore, the problem is important to solve because the Increasing growth of the petrochemical companies incidents in our world in the past two decades. IV. Relevance Statement The research involved with this proposal is socially and culturally important because petrochemical companies, which before were viewed as signs of success and affluence became associated with environmental degradation, injuries, casualties, and corporate greed. Several of the unfavorable relationships between society and the petrochemical industry were emphasized by contemporary social scientists who claimed that such phenomenon is never inactivity determined by the inherent and unmanageable controls of technology. This research will adopt the idea that technologies nowadays, particularly those used by the petrochemical industry, are the outcomes of their cultural and historical connections and their relationships with social and economic institutions. Developments like the growth of environmentally toxic substances, unbalanced development of military technology, and the dominance of the massive industrial firm gave sufficient evidence that the vicious tendencies in the technology humanity produce reveal embedded weaknesses in the society. V. Scope of Inquiry In attempting to solve the problem, this research will look for information about major petrochemical disasters in the United States for the past five decades. The causes and effects of these disasters, mainly focusing on the three criteria (ergonomic harm, fires/explosions, and environmental contamination) will be documented. First, information/data about the main ergonomic harms involved in the Bhopal, India accident and the follow-up action performed to minimize the damages caused will be researched. Second, the fires and explosion that took place in Texas and Louisiana will be studied to determine the primary cause and effect of the accidents on major stakeholders, such as the immediate community. Third, the cause/s of environmental contamination by the oil spills in Alaska and Gulf of Mexico and the direct effects of the accidents on the flora and fauna of the region will be studied. It is important to consider these areas of focus within the problem because these major accidents have spurred a drastic expansion in risk management operations, locally and globally. And this research will try to come up with possible solutions to such dangers by analyzing the abovementioned large-scale petrochemical disasters. The research will closely examine accidents in waste sites, processing plant, and chemical plants. However, a number of limitations are present. Primarily, the literature about accidents in petrochemical companies is inadequate. Thus, this research will only try to give solutions based on available documents and on the researcher’s own analysis. The outcome of this research will be mostly theoretical. VI. Methodology This research will employ secondary analysis and will focus mainly on traditional sources. The main traditional sources that will be used are peer-reviewed articles (e.g. Oil and Gas Journal, Applied Petrochemical Research, Petrochemical Technology, etc.) and textbooks. The researcher will also try to find related news or a popular magazine discussing public opinion about petrochemical accidents and the petrochemical industry as a whole. These traditional sources will be used in the study as primary references. Secondary data will be obtained from scientific documents, government reports, the Internet, industry papers, etc. The researcher chooses secondary analysis as a way to develop solutions to the risks of petrochemical companies because this method involves thorough background or historical data. In addition, secondary analysis is appropriate for time-constricted studies. References Galambos, L., Takashi Hikino, & Vera Zamagni. The global chemical industry in the age of the petrochemical revolution. UK: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print. Garverick, Linda. Corrosion in the petrochemical industry. New York: ASM International, 1994. Print. Perrow, Charles. Normal accidents: living with high-risk technologies. New York: Princeton University Press, 1984. Print. Read More