We recently undertook a DSEAR assessment at a site involving ammonia gases; these were used extensively in plant systems to provide a variety of cooling across site operations.
The business already had detection systems in place to identify potential leaks of ammonia in many of the key areas. This is important, as ammonia gases are not only potentially explosive (at reasonably high concentrations) but also present health risks at a much lower level. Given this fact, it’s important to know what level the detection is set at and what would happen in the event of an alarm being activated. This information was not obviously to hand at the site and could lead to an inappropriate response from staff.
An important area of DSEAR is where the potential for an unplanned emergency exists, that there are procedures and system in place to account for such events; as these will help to prevent a much more hazardous situation being created. With robust procedures in place the potential for a hazardous situation to develop should be low - as long as staff are well trained and fully understand such procedures.
Key questions for the client to investigate in this case were:
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To ensure that suitable engineering controls detected any loss of ammonia;
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Clear indication on what levels the sensors are detecting at;
- Information on what the sensors connect to AND what a detection would result in e.g. would it activate the tripping out of potential ignition sources.
We would advise any business that having controls in place is not sufficient unless the business fully understands how they work and what they achieve.
