Today, the Indian government released its investigation findings regarding the fatal Styrene release on May 7, 2020, which killed 12 citizens and hospitalized 585 others. This incident, like the many before it, came about by a number of failures the facility/company made in the management of their Styrene inventory. In the light of the root causes discussed, the Committee is of the view that the accident in the Styrene storage M6 Tank can be attributed to:
- the poor design of the tank,
- inadequate refrigeration and cooling system,
- absence of circulation & mixing systems,
- inadequate measurement parameters,
- poor safety protocol,
- poor safety awareness,
- inadequate risk assessment and response,
- poor process safety management systems,
- slackness of management,
- insufficient knowledge amongst staff,
- insufficient knowledge of the chemical properties of Styrene, especially during storage under idle conditions.
SAFTENG members can download the full report which contains a fishbone diagram/root cause analysis. The Committee deliberated on the main causes of the accident and identified the following as the root causes behind the runaway polymerization reaction leading to uncontrolled Styrene vapor release from M6 Tank in LG Polymers Visakhapatnam.
Here is a more detailed discussion of these failures: