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Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product
RESOURCE REVIEWS
Safety Assessment for Chemical Processes
Jo¨rg Steinbach, Wiley-Vch., Verlag, 1999, 305 pp., $185.00, ISBN 3-527-28852-X Jo¨rg Steinbach enjoys a reputation as one of the foremost chemical safety experts in Europe. He has applied his considerable expertise to a book to “provide newcomers with an easy access to the field and help practitioners in the chemical industry to answer all questions concerning their daily work with hazardous materials or potentially dangerous chemical plants.” In accordance with the best practices of systems safety, he emphasizes that evaluation of the potential hazards of a reaction should begin at the research stage. He presents techniques for determining thermodynamic characteristics and follows with a detailed discussion of methods for calculating heat balance in four types of chemical reactors. The distinction between normal operating conditions and upset conditions is particularly valuable. The chapter on dust explosions addresses an important topic that is too often ignored. In the United States, this book is more likely to appeal to those in research or academic fields than to those in industry. American chemical engineers in industry are likely to favor a more empirical approach based on knowledge of the equipment and similar reactions rather than theoretical calculations. Furthermore, the book deals primarily with kilogram-scale reactors, and hence the information requires extrapolation for application to the large-volume processes covered under the Process Safety Management standard. A mere eight pages are dedicated to the discussion of six hazard analysis techniques and no examples or sample worksheets are provided. A competent safety engineer would already know more than is presented, and there is not enough information to al38
low an untrained person even to begin a process hazard analysis. The most daunting aspect of the book is the impenetrable language, which does not reflect idiomatic American English. Word order and selection are often awkward, whereas the punctuation sometimes actually obscures the meaning. The publisher has done Steinbach a serious disfavor by failing to provide an editor who speaks English as a native language. Reviewed by Eileen Mason PII S1074-9098(00)00181-7
Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product
Committee on Design, Construction, and Renovation of Laboratory Facilities Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology, National Research Council, 2000, 170 pp., paperback, $35.00, ISBN 0-309-06633-6 “Laboratory facilities are complex, technically sophisticated, and mechanically intensive structures that are expensive to build and to maintain. Hundreds of decisions must be made before and during new construction or renovation that will determine how successfully the facility will function when completed and how successfully it can be maintained once put into service.” With this introductory statement, the National Research Council’s committee states the problem addressed by this book: What are the Best Management Practices involved in the planning, design, and construction of new or renovated laboratory space? This is an issue which impacts the daily life of the laboratory safety professional, as we help the occupants of these spaces work safely within the constraints of their building. The practices described
© Division of Chemical Health and Safety of the American Chemical Society Published by Elsevier Science Inc.
in this book will make this job much easier for everyone involved. The committee divided the book into three chapters, addressing Human Issues, Process Issues, and Technical Issues. The Human Issues section describes the roles of the various parties that will be involved in the planning and design process in a clear and concise fashion. It pays particular attention to the need for a participatory process that includes everyone who will be involved in using and maintaining the building, as well as the external community, whose potential concerns (whether economic, land use, or health and safety related) must be specifically addressed as the planning process goes forward. The chapter on Process Issues describes the stages involved in a typical construction project, with specific attention to their effect on laboratory buildings. This chapter is important for people who have not been involved in a construction project before (which includes most laboratory workers) because it provides an overview that allows them to understand how the process fits together and what level of detail is considered at each stage. Of special interest in this chapter is the attention paid to the Postconstruction Phase. In my experience, the importance of building commissioning and postoccupancy evaluation is often overlooked in the rush to occupy and start using the new laboratories. The final chapter, on Technical Issues, gets into some of the design considerations associated with laboratories and the tradeoffs that arise as the project is planned to serve multiple purposes and audiences. This chapter begins with a discussion of the role of the Environmental Health and Safety Officer and the codes and regulations that affect the design of the building. It then discusses design and cost considerations that are specific to laboratory spaces. This chapter is likely to be most useful to the actual occupants and managers of the space, so that
1074-9098/01/$20.00
they can understand why the building developed as it did. This book is another important contribution from the National Research Council in the tradition of Prudent Practices in the Laboratory, but it is aimed at a different audience. Prudent Practices addresses the questions that the laboratory supervisor and workers face on a day-to-day basis with regard to laboratory safety management. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation is aimed at upper laboratory management who are responsible for planning and funding major laboratory construction projects. Following the NRC’s recommendations will not necessarily find the quickest path from the idea for a new laboratory to a completed project, but it will help produce a result that comes much closer to meeting the expectations of the original concept. I am sure that most laboratory organizations will find many people within their organization who will benefit from an firm understanding of the ideas in this book. Reviewed by Ralph Stuart PII S1074-9098(01)00171-X
Emergency Preparedness Planning: A Primer for Chemists
Timothy L. Pasquarelli and Frankie Wood-Black, Oxford University Press, New York, 1999, 126 pp. with index, $29.95, ISBN 0-8412-3579-1 The third paragraph of Chapter 1 says it all: “The purpose of this book is to provide an introduction and a resource tool for those persons who are not emergency management professionals. . . . It is the author’s intention to provide a general overview of the process and an introduction to resources that are available.” The book is arranged in eight chapters, four appendices and an index. The eight easily understandable chapters take the reader though the necessary steps for a well-rounded emergency preparedness plan and the appendices provide additional support and guidance in setting up an emergency preparedness plan. The final chapter discusses one of the most important aspects of emergency planning: exercising and evaluating the emergency plan.
Chemical Health & Safety, January/February 2001
The organization of the book is both its curse and its blessing. As a curse, the casual reader or one just in the beginning stages of emergency preparedness planning may find numerous referrals to the appendices annoying. (The appendices comprise almost as much of the book as the text does.) The blessing is that persons skilled in incident response and planning will find the information contained in the appendices to be most useful and extremely easy to work with. Appendix A, nearly 30 pages, is perhaps the most useful part of the work to the skilled planner or incident responder. This appendix tells the planner where to look for regulatory guidance for planning the response. As a HAZMAT team commander, I especially like having a lot of information in a single place, and a single list, an index, so to say, is extremely valuable to me. This work has found a place in my incident command vehicle.
Reviewed by Harry J. Elston PII S1074-9098(01)00170-8
39
Safety Assessment for Chemical Processes
Jo¨rg Steinbach, Wiley-Vch., Verlag, 1999, 305 pp., $185.00, ISBN 3-527-28852-X Jo¨rg Steinbach enjoys a reputation as one of the foremost chemical safety experts in Europe. He has applied his considerable expertise to a book to “provide newcomers with an easy access to the field and help practitioners in the chemical industry to answer all questions concerning their daily work with hazardous materials or potentially dangerous chemical plants.” In accordance with the best practices of systems safety, he emphasizes that evaluation of the potential hazards of a reaction should begin at the research stage. He presents techniques for determining thermodynamic characteristics and follows with a detailed discussion of methods for calculating heat balance in four types of chemical reactors. The distinction between normal operating conditions and upset conditions is particularly valuable. The chapter on dust explosions addresses an important topic that is too often ignored. In the United States, this book is more likely to appeal to those in research or academic fields than to those in industry. American chemical engineers in industry are likely to favor a more empirical approach based on knowledge of the equipment and similar reactions rather than theoretical calculations. Furthermore, the book deals primarily with kilogram-scale reactors, and hence the information requires extrapolation for application to the large-volume processes covered under the Process Safety Management standard. A mere eight pages are dedicated to the discussion of six hazard analysis techniques and no examples or sample worksheets are provided. A competent safety engineer would already know more than is presented, and there is not enough information to al38
low an untrained person even to begin a process hazard analysis. The most daunting aspect of the book is the impenetrable language, which does not reflect idiomatic American English. Word order and selection are often awkward, whereas the punctuation sometimes actually obscures the meaning. The publisher has done Steinbach a serious disfavor by failing to provide an editor who speaks English as a native language. Reviewed by Eileen Mason PII S1074-9098(00)00181-7
Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product
Committee on Design, Construction, and Renovation of Laboratory Facilities Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology, National Research Council, 2000, 170 pp., paperback, $35.00, ISBN 0-309-06633-6 “Laboratory facilities are complex, technically sophisticated, and mechanically intensive structures that are expensive to build and to maintain. Hundreds of decisions must be made before and during new construction or renovation that will determine how successfully the facility will function when completed and how successfully it can be maintained once put into service.” With this introductory statement, the National Research Council’s committee states the problem addressed by this book: What are the Best Management Practices involved in the planning, design, and construction of new or renovated laboratory space? This is an issue which impacts the daily life of the laboratory safety professional, as we help the occupants of these spaces work safely within the constraints of their building. The practices described
© Division of Chemical Health and Safety of the American Chemical Society Published by Elsevier Science Inc.
in this book will make this job much easier for everyone involved. The committee divided the book into three chapters, addressing Human Issues, Process Issues, and Technical Issues. The Human Issues section describes the roles of the various parties that will be involved in the planning and design process in a clear and concise fashion. It pays particular attention to the need for a participatory process that includes everyone who will be involved in using and maintaining the building, as well as the external community, whose potential concerns (whether economic, land use, or health and safety related) must be specifically addressed as the planning process goes forward. The chapter on Process Issues describes the stages involved in a typical construction project, with specific attention to their effect on laboratory buildings. This chapter is important for people who have not been involved in a construction project before (which includes most laboratory workers) because it provides an overview that allows them to understand how the process fits together and what level of detail is considered at each stage. Of special interest in this chapter is the attention paid to the Postconstruction Phase. In my experience, the importance of building commissioning and postoccupancy evaluation is often overlooked in the rush to occupy and start using the new laboratories. The final chapter, on Technical Issues, gets into some of the design considerations associated with laboratories and the tradeoffs that arise as the project is planned to serve multiple purposes and audiences. This chapter begins with a discussion of the role of the Environmental Health and Safety Officer and the codes and regulations that affect the design of the building. It then discusses design and cost considerations that are specific to laboratory spaces. This chapter is likely to be most useful to the actual occupants and managers of the space, so that
1074-9098/01/$20.00
they can understand why the building developed as it did. This book is another important contribution from the National Research Council in the tradition of Prudent Practices in the Laboratory, but it is aimed at a different audience. Prudent Practices addresses the questions that the laboratory supervisor and workers face on a day-to-day basis with regard to laboratory safety management. Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation is aimed at upper laboratory management who are responsible for planning and funding major laboratory construction projects. Following the NRC’s recommendations will not necessarily find the quickest path from the idea for a new laboratory to a completed project, but it will help produce a result that comes much closer to meeting the expectations of the original concept. I am sure that most laboratory organizations will find many people within their organization who will benefit from an firm understanding of the ideas in this book. Reviewed by Ralph Stuart PII S1074-9098(01)00171-X
Emergency Preparedness Planning: A Primer for Chemists
Timothy L. Pasquarelli and Frankie Wood-Black, Oxford University Press, New York, 1999, 126 pp. with index, $29.95, ISBN 0-8412-3579-1 The third paragraph of Chapter 1 says it all: “The purpose of this book is to provide an introduction and a resource tool for those persons who are not emergency management professionals. . . . It is the author’s intention to provide a general overview of the process and an introduction to resources that are available.” The book is arranged in eight chapters, four appendices and an index. The eight easily understandable chapters take the reader though the necessary steps for a well-rounded emergency preparedness plan and the appendices provide additional support and guidance in setting up an emergency preparedness plan. The final chapter discusses one of the most important aspects of emergency planning: exercising and evaluating the emergency plan.
Chemical Health & Safety, January/February 2001
The organization of the book is both its curse and its blessing. As a curse, the casual reader or one just in the beginning stages of emergency preparedness planning may find numerous referrals to the appendices annoying. (The appendices comprise almost as much of the book as the text does.) The blessing is that persons skilled in incident response and planning will find the information contained in the appendices to be most useful and extremely easy to work with. Appendix A, nearly 30 pages, is perhaps the most useful part of the work to the skilled planner or incident responder. This appendix tells the planner where to look for regulatory guidance for planning the response. As a HAZMAT team commander, I especially like having a lot of information in a single place, and a single list, an index, so to say, is extremely valuable to me. This work has found a place in my incident command vehicle.
Reviewed by Harry J. Elston PII S1074-9098(01)00170-8
39