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Some Results of
Responsible Care Activities
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Updated on February 8, 2010
Security and Disaster Prevention
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Process Safety Management
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In an effort to reduce environmental impact and achieve zero-accident and zero-disaster operations, Sumitomo Chemical performs safety assessments at each stage from new chemical process R&D to plant design, construction, operation, maintenance and dismantling.
In fiscal 2008, there were no major accidents at Sumitomo Chemical, but, unfortunately, accidents occurred in succession in April and May of 2009. In response, we are implementing measures to prevent similar accidents and reinforce safety management.
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Measures to Prevent Toxic Substance-related Accidents
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Whenever a large amount of a toxic substance leaks, there is the potential for a major accident to occur. Thus, plants are located a safe distance from residential areas as required by Japanese law. For the past several years, making reference to the standards of the U.S. Risk Management Program (RMP) Rule, Sumitomo Chemical has compiled a list of toxic substances that are handled at existing plants, and conducted simulations of potential accidents related to these substances to further reinforce the safety of its operations.
As depicted in the illustration below, accident scenarios first calculate the leakage rate of the substance by taking into account such factors as the properties and handling conditions of the substance and the size of the hole from which the substance leaks. Then, such variables as wind speed are added to the equation, and the area affected by the leak is calculated. End-point values used in the RMP Rule are used to determine the affected area.
By conducting simulations of potential accidents, Sumitomo Chemical will pinpoint any processes that have the potential to adversely affect areas outside plant premises and step up safety measures to ensure the safety of these processes.
 This graph shows the ground surface concentration distribution of gas in the event of a leak from a high point on a storage tank. This simulates the dispersion of the gas to assess whether or not the concentration of gas at the boundary of the plant premises exceeds safe limits. If the concentration at the plant boundary exceeds safe limits, we work to implement additional safety measures.
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Implementation of Experiential Fire and Explosion Training
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Sumitomo Chemical has been implementing experiential training for fire and explosion hazards for certain members of the operating staff of its Ehime Works. Beginning in January 2007, we innovated this training to start anew our Experiential Fire and Explosion Training. This training targets technicians key to the manufacturing and research departments throughout the Company, combining preparatory study of the Company guidelines, training (experiential training and schooling) along with the submission of follow-up reports to impart learning by experience. The objective of this training is to prevent the occurrence of accidents and various other problems by educating employees to master the Company's internal disaster-prevention guidelines, while at the same time cultivating the abilities to discover and respond to latent hazards. This experiential training consists of 12 items, including intermixture hazards, static electricity, gas and dust explosions, ignition combustibility, thermal stability and other items selected from a broad range of safety issues. Development of instructional materials for experiential training and schooling is undertaken by the Safety Engineering Laboratory at our Process and Production Technology Center, and this development is based on the technologies actually in use at Sumitomo Chemical.
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