Providing chemical protection of the population. Accidents at chemically hazardous sites and their consequences

In any modern country there is a sufficiently large number of various chemical objects. The unpredictability of accidents on them, the rapid spread of contaminated air require the availability of urgent measures to ensure the safety of the population.

Protection against hazardous substances

The provision of chemical protection of the population is reduced to the application of the following methods of protection:

1. Use of respirators, gas masks, protective suits.
2. Protective constructions.
3. Temporary shelter.
4. Evacuation of the population from the danger zone.

All these methods can be used singly, or can be combined with others.

In order to prevent accidents on chemically dangerous objects unawares, it is necessary to take the necessary measures in advance. To them it is possible to carry:

• Bringing into operation the public warning system.
• Control that individual protective equipment is ready and stored in certain rooms.
• Preparation of shelters.
• Definition of the evacuation area.
• Development of the most effective measures to protect the population in those or other cases.
• Conduct training of command and control agencies and forces that are designed to eliminate the consequences of the accident.

Only carefully planned actions in the event of an accident can ensure the safety of people.

Features of chemical protection of the population

Chemical protection is a whole set of measures that are designed to exclude or at least mitigate the harmful effects of AXOV (accidentally chemically hazardous substances) on the population and workers of the enterprise. Most of all activities should be carried out in advance, and also urgently in the process of eliminating the consequences of the accident.

Activities on chemical protection of the population, which can be attributed to the main ones, are as follows:

1. Confirmation of the fact of the accident and notification of the population.
2. Clarification of the situation in the accident zone.
3. Observance of all rules and norms of chemical safety in the contaminated area.
4. Providing the population and employees with all means of protection.
5. If necessary, evacuate people from the zone of possible infection.
6. Shelter the population in shelters that are able to protect against dangerous chemicals.
7. Emergency use of antidotes and skin care products.

If there is an emergency, for the implementation of specific activities, the situation in the accident zone is clarified, and reconnaissance is conducted for the presence of hazardous substances. Also, the nature and volume of the outburst, the direction in which the wind carries the poisonous substances, and the extent of the area affected by the accident are studied.

All employees of the enterprise must be provided with personal protective equipment. The liquidators of the consequences of the accident must be dressed in a chemical protection suit and a gas mask.

Hazardous objects

To such a kind of enterprises are those on which the storage, processing and use of hazardous substances takes place. Accidents at chemically hazardous objects can lead to infection of people or their death from the effects of poisonous substances.

Such enterprises can include the following:

1. Chemical and oil refineries.
2. Enterprises of the petrochemical industry.
3. Purification and water supply facilities, where chlorine is used.
4. Refrigeration plants, if they use ammonia.
5. Warehouses where pesticides are stored.
6. Vehicles carrying chemically dangerous goods.
7. Waste landfills of the chemical industry.

All dangerous enterprises can be divided into several categories according to the degree of danger:

• 1-I - in the event of an accident, more than 70,000 people fall into the zone of defeat .
• 2 nd - from 40 to 70 thousand.
• 3rd - less than 40 thousand.
• 4th - in case of an accident, the danger does not go beyond the boundaries of the enterprise.

At us in the country of such dangerous objects is more than 3 thousand. With such a large amount of knowledge of the properties of CIV, a preliminary assessment of the possible consequences, the ability to correctly and quickly take urgent measures to eliminate the accident are the main condition for ensuring the chemical protection of the population was made at the highest level.

Chemical accidents

Such an emergency situation is usually called the violation of technological processes in enterprises, damage to pipelines, storage and storage tanks, vehicles carrying dangerous substances. All this can lead to the release of chemicals into the atmosphere, which will lead to infection of people and the biosphere.

If the situation entailed human casualties, severe destruction of objects, great damage to the natural environment, it is already possible to ascertain not just an accident, but a real industrial catastrophe.

Any emergency on a chemical plant is most often accompanied by explosions and fires. As a result of these processes, non-toxic substances are converted into hazardous substances and are harmful to human health.

Causes of an accident at a chemical facility

Among the main reasons for which accidents occur are the following:

1. Wear of production equipment or its inadequate and substandard repairs and maintenance.
2. In the process of production or processing, technological processes are disrupted.
3. Incorrect operation of the equipment.
4. The storage of hazardous substances is carried out in violation of rules and regulations.
5. The security systems in the enterprise do not work.
6. Errors that were committed during the construction and design of facilities.
7. Violation of discipline in the workplace.
8. The norms of storage of dangerous substances are exceeded.
9. Natural disasters.
10. The terrorist act.

If we analyze the causes of the accident, then we can say that the human factor plays a decisive role . Often our negligence leads to dangerous consequences.

Regardless of the type of accident, the provision of chemical protection of the population must be carried out in a high-quality and timely manner. And accidents can be classified as follows:

• Private. The consequences cover only one workshop or installation.
• The object accident. It covers only one enterprise and does not go beyond it.
• Local. The consequences affect the whole city or district.
• Regional - applies to several regions.
• The global accident captures not only the regions of one country, but it can also go beyond it.

Disruptive factors

When an emergency release of hazardous substances occurs, a primary contaminated cloud is formed, which consists of droplets and aerosols that can settle on the ground and infect it.

If the containers for storage or transportation are damaged, the hazardous substances are scattered, begin to evaporate, and a secondary contaminated cloud is formed.

These clouds have different properties. For example, the primary cloud spreads further, only at the time of its passage, but contains a large concentration of hazardous substances. Secondary cloud, although it has a small amount of COW, but its effect is carried out until there is no evaporation or destruction.

During any chemical accident there are both main manifestations and additional ones. The main ones are the release of hazardous substances, and additional ones can include fires, explosions that can accompany the accident.

During emergency situations of this kind, radiation and chemical protection of the population is mandatory, because the main damaging factor is the contamination of the lower layers of the atmosphere, soil, water, which leads to the defeat of people and other living beings. Its scale depends on the size of the infection zone.

In total, three such zones are considered:

• Deadly.
• Toxodoses that disable.
• Threshold toxodosis.

Additional damaging factors include:

• Shock wave.
• Radiation.
• Defeat by fragments.
• The action of poisonous substances, which in large quantities are formed during the combustion of CVC.

Effects

No accident at a chemically hazardous enterprise does not pass without a trace. Therefore, the state system of ensuring the safety of the population is so important. The consequences that occur after emergencies can be divided into two categories: immediate (they manifest themselves immediately) and remote.

Immediate consequences are:

• The defeat of people and animals with a fatal outcome.
• Strongest poisoning.
• Wounds, burns.
• Mental disorders that occur after exposure to chemicals.
• Acute poisoning by combustion products.
• Material damage caused by partial or complete destruction of objects.
• Pollution of the environment, which threatens an ecological catastrophe.

The consequences can be so serious that even protective equipment, such as an L-1 protective suit, can not save them. If you wear it after the accident, the precious time can be missed, and the person will still receive a portion of poisonous substances.

Classification of chemicals

Chemical contamination can occur with different substances, they all have one common quality - it's a toxicity for the human body. The degree of this quality for different substances is different. Depending on this, there are 4 classes of chemical hazards:

1. Extremely dangerous.
2. Highly dangerous.
3. Moderately dangerous.
4. Low-risk.

Any damaging substance can have an inhomogeneous effect on the human body. But as the main feature use one that leads to acute poisoning and defeat.

By the nature of exposure, chemically hazardous substances can be divided into:

• Asphyxiating substances. These include chlorine, phosgene.
• Generalized. Causes a general intoxication of the body. These include carbon monoxide.
• At the same time, suffocating and generally toxic effects have, for example, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen fluoride, sulfurous anhydride.
• Neurotropic and asphyxiating effects, such as ammonia.
• Metabolic toxic substances, for example, ethylene oxide.
• Substances that interfere with metabolic processes in the body.

Such substances, as a rule, are always kept in abundance at chemical enterprises. For example, workers in a plant for the production of nitric acid must necessarily wear a protective suit L-1. Personal protective equipment in the form of gloves, gowns, respirators, and even gas masks are present in the workplace.

Specific effects of chemicals

The protection of the population in chemical contamination is a top priority for management. The importance and urgency of these measures is also due to the fact that, in addition to the general toxicity, AHOV can cause the following risks:

1. Embryotropic. Has a negative effect on the process of forming the internal organs of the fetus, which is fraught with the appearance of congenital malformations and developmental anomalies. It is because of this factor that a pregnant woman should be transferred to another safer job as soon as possible. This is a situation where even a chemical protection suit will not help.
2. Carcinogenic. Chemical substances can activate the activity of cancer cells, which leads to the development of cancer. All this also depends on the time of work in harmful production, the degree of exposure to chemicals. The danger of these COWs is that their effects may appear in a few years.
3. Genotoxic. It provokes mutations of genes, the risk of cancer increases. If mutations occur in the sex cells, this leads to the birth of children with developmental abnormalities or deformities.
4. Immunopathogenic effect. It manifests itself in a decrease in human immunity. Often accompanied by diseases of the respiratory tract.
5. Reproductive risk is associated with reproductive health problems.
6. Metabolic disorders. There is a malfunction in the metabolic processes in the body.
7. Allergenic. Many chemicals start their negative impact with the manifestation of allergic reactions. This can be an exacerbation of bronchial asthma or dermatitis.

As can be seen from this list, poisonous substances can have a sufficiently serious and unpredictable effect, therefore protection of the population in case of chemical accidents must be carried out qualitatively and quickly.

Behavior of the population before the accident, during and after it

If people live near chemical facilities, they should be aware of how dangerous the enterprise is and what measures must be taken during emergencies. Provision of chemical protection of the population includes in its list and preventive, explanatory work.

People need to know how to protect themselves from possible infection. Individual protective equipment must be prepared in advance. They should be kept in an accessible place, so that they can use them at the first alarm signals.

During an accident, the population is alerted by a siren or a long beep. People should be informed beforehand what these signals mean.

Employees of the enterprise can perform their work in personal protective equipment. If the technological process can be stopped, the workers descend into the protective structures.

The population can be given the following recommendations regarding behavior after receiving a signal about an accident:

1. If the civil defense headquarters informs on the events taking place on TV or radio, then it is necessary to follow all its recommendations.
2. Wear protective equipment.
3. Take cover in the nearest defenses.
4. If you are given a command not to go anywhere, then try to seal the windows and doors well. You can additionally hang them with blankets.
5. If it is recommended to leave their homes and go down to the shelter, then it is necessary to disconnect all electrical appliances, cut off gas, take all your documents, necessary things. Do not go out, without wearing a gas mask, a respirator or even a cotton-gauze dressing.

If you fall into the immediate cloud of chemicals, you need to take a shower, and throw out all the contaminated things. Try not to consume water from natural sources, fruits and vegetables directly from the garden.

At the first suspicion of poisoning it is necessary to drink as much fluids as possible and immediately to see a doctor.

Any accident at a chemical plant is easier to prevent than to spend huge amounts of money on the liquidation of its consequences. At every dangerous facility, measures must be developed that will reduce the probability of an accident several times. At such enterprises strict control over all technological processes, observance of rules and norms of storage, processing and transportation of dangerous substances should be carried out.