Assessment of Chemical Health Risks, Fire - Explosion Risks and Environmental Impact at Cluj Wastewater Treatment Station within Someș S.A. Water Company

Abstract

Abstract Noticing the increase in attention given by legislation and national practice to the assessment of occupational health and safety risks of a chemical nature, the article summarizes and explains the results of the research carried out from this perspective in a waste water treatment/purification station. By resorting to a well-established method, especially on the European level, the risks for the safety and health of workers (from the perspective of inhalation and skin risks), fire-explosion risks and environmental risks were evaluated. Based on the results obtained, a preliminary, but extremely necessary and useful, diagnosis of the magnitude of these specific risks was made and - on this basis - prevention/protection measures were proposed which, once implemented, can lead to the minimization of the risk levels associated with the identified hazards specific to the three analysed vectors. Beyond the concrete results of an applied nature, the growth of which the synthesis is systematized can serve as a good practice guide for numerous practitioners in the field of safety and health at work in Romania, in order to increase the efficiency of chemical risk assessments and - implicitly - the effectiveness of mitigation measures for this risk so widespread in industrial activities, processes and operations.