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Posted By N S
I need to carry out a COSHH assessment for our burning activities. We manufacture explosives and are permitted to burn materials contaminated with explosives. Does anyone know how to go about this or could you recommend a specialist consultant who may be able to assist.
I am fully conversant with COSHH assessment but am not sure how to get info on the by-products of combustion and the effect that they may have on staff and members of the public at different distances and in different weather conditions.
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Posted By Tyler
I dont think this is really a COSHH issue as such. It's more of an environmental issue.
Products of combustion vary according to the fuel being burned, however I would expect to find the usual combustion gases, NOx, SOx, CO, and CO2 plus a level of particulate (dust/soot) from the incomplete combustion of the material and possibly some dioxins as well, together with other substances (it all depends on what is being burned).
I would hope such a combustion process takes place in a suitable way with a stack to remove the exhaust fumes and emit them to the atmosphere and away fom the personnel at ground level and not as a 'bonfire' scenario with no extraction.
You mention you are permitted to burn the waste. If so the authorising body should be able to give you some advice on this.
However, I would suggest some sampling of the exhaust fumes to establish exactly what substances are present and in what concentrations in a bid to assess the impact they would have to the environment and to human health (when they eventually land back on the ground etc in (hopefully) a very diluted concentration.
You may, after this sampling, want to carry out the EA's 'H1 tool' calculation to establish the Environmental impact of the process and to determine whether dispersion monitoring (very costly)would be required.
I hope this helps.
Tyler
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Posted By Neil Pearson
Just to add to Tyler's response...I'd assume we're talking organic materials so as Tyler said, expect dioxins, which are carcinogenic. But if you can be confident that combustion is complete, then this shouldn't be a problem.
Depending on the conditions, and if it's economically viable, you may have to assume that most of your combustion processes will give off dioxins and acid gases like NOx and SOx. You may have to provide LEV that will handle this, and treat them all the same. But if there aren't too many different materials being burnt, then some lab analysis of the releases would be a good idea. Even if there are lots, you could try to identify some broad classes of compounds being combusted and test those.
The bottom line is, you won't find a tool that will tell you what you need. You need to find a chemist to help you with the detailed assessments.
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Posted By Dave Wilson
Make sure this doesn't fall under IPPC as a process which needs a permit from the LA or the EA as they will set the stack emission limts for this.
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Posted By Tyler Further to my earlier post and the other comments from my colleagues I have provided for your information an couple of organisations that may be able to assist you in this area. Firstly contact the Source Testing Association (STA) http://www.s-t-a.org/They will point you in the right direction and may also provide you with a list of consultancies in your area that may be able to assist. Alternatively you could contact a recognised cosultancy directly such as RPS etc www.rpsplc.co.ukHope this helps
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Posted By Laurie
Try contacting your nearest MOD base. Most of them have fully licensed demolition/burning sites for training purposes and outdated stock disposal.
You may also find that their operatives have PPE that the rest of us can only dream of!
Laurie
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Posted By Smurfer
I've seen facilities where this activity is carried out in the UK. Generally out in the open with no LEV, as such, provided and reliant on natural ventilation/dispersion. Stack monitoring would not be relevant in this situation, and dispersion modelling would be difficult/guestimate.
I can see where the Coshh aspects arise and can only suggest that you maybe use direct reading combustion gas instruments to get a feel for the likely levels operatives are exposed to. In any case, given the explosive nature of the materials, it is most likely that these facilities are way out in the open, and operatives are only present to ignite the burn and then retreat to a safe area.
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Posted By Chris Pope
Would have thought that the best way of controlling this is to make sure it is vented by a suitable chimney so that no one you can forsee can breathe it in - COSHH is essentially about suitable control measures
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Posted By Adrian Watson
Dear All,
This is definately a COSHH issue. If there is any concern about exotic products of combustion I suggest that you take a gas bag or vacuum flask grab sample by GCMS.
Regards Adrian Watson
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