The impact of reach and CLP regulations on the safety management of hazardous materials storage

The new European regulations about management of hazardous substances and mixtures, including REACH and CLP Regulations, have introduced numerous restrictions on the use of certain chemical products. These restrictions have led to a reduction of some chemical commercialisation at the expense of others those not requiring special precautions to be used. However, the use of chemicals, although apparently not dangerous, requires careful management to prevent accidental contact between substances and/or mixtures that are incompatible each other. In this paper it is presented a methodology to assess the compatibility of chemicals in a storage field of flammable and/or toxic chemicals, to be used in case a new chemical has to be introduced in the plant. The method is illustrated through its application to a case study consisting in a storage field (Seveso site), storing about 70 chemical, where a modification has to be introduced in the use of a storage tank of dimethylcarbonate. In this case, the new chemical introduced is not dangerous from the Seveso Directive point of view but it is not compatible with halogenated hydrocarbons already stored in the storage field and dangerous for workers health. Therefore, the company has adopted a procedure to prevent the accidental contact between these chemicals during the operation of loading, stored and transport on the road. It's important to notice that this approach allowed both to verify the compliance with Seveso regulations about modifications management and to identify the prevention measures to avoid accidental contact between chemicals, even if the chemicals apparently are not hazardous. The results obtained have been extended to management of all chemicals of the warehouse