 |
Five Year Report
1993-1997
•Table of Contents
•Acknowledgments
•Executive Summary
•Introduction
•Methods
•Results
•Discussion/Recommendations
•List of Figures / Tables
•Definitions
•OERS Council Membership
|
|
Results
Geographical Distribution of Events in Oregon
Characteristics of Events
Injuries/illnesses
Severity of Injuries
Most Frequently Released Chemicals
Geographical Distribution of Events in Oregon
Between January 1, 1993 and December 31, 1997, a total of 931 emergency events
involving hazardous substances were identified in Oregon that met the HSEES
definition. Figure 4 ((21 K gif image) shows that these events occurred in nearly all parts of the state.
The distribution of HSEES events by county for 1993 - 1997 is also shown in Table 1.
Events occurred in 35 of the 36 counties in the state. In general, the number of events
occurring in an area is correlated with population. For the state, there were 2.9 HSEES
events per 10,000 population between 1993 and 1997. The very high rate in Gilliam
county is attributable to the fact that the county contains a major regional hazardous
waste disposal facility (the only such facility in the state) and a very small total
population (1,700). The events in that county were primarily periodic, minor releases,
meeting the HSEES definition, that occurred during the disposal process.
Table 2. Number of events meeting the surveillance definition by event type
Oregon HSEES Events 1993 - 1997
| Event Type |
Events |
| Number |
% |
| Fixed Facility |
673 |
72.3 |
| Transportation |
258 |
27.7 |
| Total |
931 |
100.0 |
|
Characteristics of Events
Although transportation events may have attracted much of the media and public
attention, they accounted for only 27.7% of total events, and the remaining 72.3%
occurred at fixed facilities (Table 2). Over the five year period, the percent of
transportation and fixed-facility events remained relatively constant (Figure 5).
Of the transportation events that occurred between 1993 - 1997, most were ground
transportation (81.2%). The other events were rail (14.1%), air (3.5%), water
(0.8%) and pipeline (0.4%). Information on the type of transportation was missing
for 2 (1%) events.
For both fixed-facility and transportation events from 1993 - 1997, 90% involved
the release of only a single chemical (Table 3). For fixed-facility events, 89.6%
were single chemical releases; for transportation events, 91.1% were single
chemical releases.
Although most events involved only one substance, the substances released were
distributed over a wide variety of categories (Table 4). This classification is used by
all 15 HSEES states to standardize chemical categories for comparisons. Excluding
the "Other" category, chemicals most often released at fixed facilities in Oregon
included other inorganic substances, volatile organic compounds, acids, ammonia
and chlorine. For transportation events in Oregon, the most commonly reported
chemicals, excluding the "Other" category, were pesticides, acids, paints and dyes,
other inorganic substances, and volatile organic compounds. The "Other"category
includes substances that do not fit into any of the other categories. The "Other
Inorganic Substances" category includes substances such as arsenic and mercury or
inorganic compounds not included in the other categories. For purposes of analysis
of Oregon events, the two "Other" categories make up a large proportion of all
events (37%) and thus, this categorization is not as useful as it might be for other
states.
Table 3. Number of chemicals released by type of event
Oregon HSEES Events 1993-1997
No. of
Chemicals
Released |
Fixed Facility |
Transportation |
All Events |
No. of
Events |
(%) |
No. of
Events |
(%) |
No. of
Events |
(%) |
Total No. of
Chemicals |
| One |
603 |
(89.6) |
235 |
(91.1) |
838 |
90.0) |
838 |
| Two |
43 |
(6.4) |
17 |
(6.6) |
60 |
(6.4) |
120 |
| Three |
15 |
(2.2) |
2 |
(0.8) |
17 |
(1.8) |
51 |
| Four |
4 |
(0.6) |
0 |
(0) |
4 |
(0.4) |
16 |
| Five |
2 |
(0.3) |
1 |
(0.4) |
3 |
(0.3) |
15 |
| Six or more |
6 |
(0.9) |
3 |
(1.2) |
9 |
(1.0) |
81 |
| Total |
673 |
(100.0) |
258 |
(100.0) |
931 |
(100.0) |
1121 |
Table 4. Classification of chemicals released by type of event
Oregon HSEES 1993-1997
|
Chemical Category |
Fixed Facility |
Transportation |
All Events |
No. of
Events |
(%) |
No. of
Events |
(%) |
No. of
Events |
(%) |
| Acids |
81 |
(9.9) |
44 |
(14.6) |
125 |
(11.2) |
| Ammonia |
81 |
(9.9) |
8 |
(2.6) |
89 |
(7.9) |
| Bases |
31 |
(3.8) |
19 |
(6.3) |
50 |
(4.5) |
| Chlorine |
80 |
(9.8) |
2 |
(0.7) |
82 |
(7.3) |
| Other Inorganic Substances |
141 |
(17.2) |
33 |
(10.9) |
174 |
(15.5) |
| Paints and Dyes |
38 |
(4.6) |
35 |
(11.6) |
73 |
(6.5) |
| Pesticides |
68 |
(8.3) |
47 |
(15.6) |
115 |
(10.3) |
| PCBs |
24 |
(2.9) |
1 |
(0.3) |
25 |
(2.2) |
| Volatile Organic Compounds |
83 |
(10.1) |
29 |
(9.6) |
112 |
(10.0) |
| Mixtures |
27 |
(3.3) |
5 |
(1.7) |
32 |
(2.9) |
| Other |
165 |
(20.1) |
79 |
(26.2) |
244 |
(21.8) |
| Total |
819 |
(100.0) |
302 |
(100.0) |
1121 |
(100.0) |
Injuries/illnesses
Most events during the 5 year period did not result in injuries or illnesses (Table 5). Only
173 (18%) of the 931 events involved an injury/illness. Fixed-facility events accounted for
76% of the 173 injury/illness events reported and 88% of the total of 563 victims in events involving injuries or illnesses.
Table 5. Distribution of number of victims by type of event,
Oregon HSEES 1993-1997
|
Number of
Victims |
Fixed Facility |
Transportation |
All Events |
No. of
Events |
(%) |
Total
Victims |
No. of
Events |
(%) |
Total
Victims |
No. of
Events |
(%) |
Total
Victims |
| One |
56 |
(42.4) |
56 |
29 |
(70.7) |
29 |
85 |
(49.1) |
85 |
| Two |
29 |
(22.0) |
58 |
7 |
(17.1) |
14 |
36 |
(20.8) |
72 |
| Three |
15 |
(11.4) |
45 |
3 |
(7.3) |
9 |
18 |
(10.4) |
54 |
| Four |
6 |
(4.5) |
24 |
0 |
(0) |
0 |
6 |
(3.5) |
24 |
| Five |
2 |
(1.5) |
10 |
1 |
(2.4) |
5 |
3 |
(1.7) |
15 |
| Six or more |
24 |
(18.2) |
303 |
1 |
(2.4) |
10 |
25 |
(14.5) |
313 |
| Total |
132 |
(100.0) |
496 |
41 |
(100.0) |
67 |
173 |
(100.0) |
563 |
Table 6 presents the distribution of victims by category and type of event; a total of 563
victims were reported to Oregon HSEES. Employees are defined as only employees of
the company where the event occurred. The general public is defined as any person who
is not an employee of the company where the event occurred and is not a responder. A
responder is a person whose job it is to bring the release under control, provide medical
assistance to victims, or conduct crowd control. For both fixed facility and transportation
events the group with the largest proportion of injuries was employees (56.7% and 49.3%,
respectively). The general public accounted for 34.1% of fixed-facility and 43.3% of
transportation event victims. Students are included in the general public category.
Although responders were least likely to be injured in Oregon HSEES events, they still
accounted for 9.1% of victims reported.
Table 6. Distribution of victims by victim category and type of event
Oregon HSEES, 1993-1997
Victim
Category |
Fixed Facility Events |
Transportation Events |
All Events |
| No. Victims | % |
No. Victims | % |
No. Victims | % |
| Employee |
281 |
(56.7) |
33 |
(49.3) |
314 |
(55.8) |
| General Public |
169 |
(34.1) |
29 |
(43.3) |
198 |
(35.2) |
| Responder |
46 |
(9.3) |
5 |
(7.5) |
51 |
(9.1) |
| Total |
496 |
(100.0) |
67 |
(100.0) |
563 |
(100.0) |
When we examine the number of victims and victim-events by chemical category in Table
7, we see that the numbers of victims and victim-events counted by category total 777
victims in 228 victim-events. In actuality, there were 173 victim- events and 563 victims
within the 5 year period. This discrepancy exists because one person may have been
exposed to chemicals in more than one category, and an event may have involved a
release of chemicals from more than one category.
There were 40 victim-events with 152 victims counted where the spill/release involved
substances in the "Other" category. When we examine these events individually, nearly
half (71) of these victims were exposed in only 6 incidents to pepper mace, mace, or tear
gas. Within the "Other Inorganic substances" category there are 40 victim-events with
167 victims counted. Of these, 13 victim-events and 62 victims were counted for
spills/releases of compounds of chlorine, that were not counted in the chlorine chemical
category. Five victim-events and 21 victims resulted from releases of carbon monoxide.
As a result of these findings, we see that it is sometimes necessary to look beyond general
categories for information that can be useful for prevention activities. Events involving
chlorine and compounds of chlorine should be targeted to determine risk factors so that
the numbers of injuries can be reduced and releases prevented.
There were a total of 228 victim-events counted by chemical category (see Table 7). Of
these, 147 involved the release of a single chemical and 81 events involved the release of
more than one chemical. For single chemical victim-events, there were a total of 475
(61%) victims counted. For multiple chemical events 302 victims (39%) were counted by
chemical category. Table 7 shows that single chemical events affected more victims than
multiple chemical events for 6 out of 10 chemical categories.
Table 7. Classification of Chemicals Released: Number of Victims and Events Counted
For Each Chemical Category
Chemical
Category |
Victim-Events |
Victims |
Single Chemical
Victim-Events Victims |
Multiple Chemical
Victim-Events Victims |
| Acids |
30 |
87 |
19 |
34 |
11 |
53 |
| Ammonia |
13 |
59 |
13 |
59 |
0 |
0 |
| Bases |
7 |
21 |
5 |
6 |
2 |
15 |
| Chlorine |
28 |
104 |
27 |
87 |
1 |
17 |
| Other Inorganic
Substances |
40 |
167 |
23 |
68 |
17 |
99 |
| Paints and Dyes |
9 |
16 |
7 |
12 |
2 |
4 |
| Pesticides |
34 |
101 |
15 |
35 |
19 |
66 |
| Volatile Organic
Compounds |
22 |
54 |
13 |
35 |
9 |
19 |
Mixtures across
Categories |
5 |
16 |
3 |
14 |
2 |
2 |
| Other |
40 |
152 |
22 |
125 |
18 |
27 |
| Total Counted By
Category |
228 |
777 |
147 |
475 |
81 |
302 |
| Actual Total |
173
Victim-
Events |
563
Victims |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Severity of Injuries
The severity of injury by category of victim is depicted in Table 8. The largest proportion
of victims (42.1%) were transported to a hospital for treatment but not admitted. Between
1993 and 1997, two deaths were reported; both victims were killed when the crop duster
plane/helicopter they were piloting crashed. In both fatal injury events, the victim died on
scene and due to trauma rather than exposure to chemicals. Otherwise, the severity of
injury was mild in 95% of cases.
Table 8. Distribution of severity by victim category
Oregon HSEES 1993-1997
| Severity
|
Employee |
Responder |
General Public |
All Victims |
| No. | % |
No. | % |
No. | % |
No. | % |
| Injury reported by official within 24 hrs. |
9 |
(2.9) |
6 |
(11.8) |
7 |
(3.5) |
12 |
(2.1) |
| Seen by physician within 24 hrs. |
10 |
(3.2) |
0 |
(0) |
2 |
(1.0) |
22 |
(3.9) |
| Treated on scene |
67 |
(21.3) |
28 |
(54.9) |
102 |
(51.5) |
197 |
(35.0) |
| Transported for observation |
63 |
(20.1) |
1 |
(2.0) |
3 |
(1.5) |
67 |
(11.9) |
| Transported & treated |
148 |
(47.1) |
15 |
(29.4) |
74 |
(37.4) |
237 |
(42.1) |
| Transported, treated & admitted |
15 |
(4.8) |
1 |
(2.0) |
10 |
(5.1) |
26 |
(4.6) |
| Death |
2 |
(0.6) |
0 |
(0) |
0 |
(0) |
2 |
(0.4) |
| Total |
314 |
(100.0) |
51 |
(100.0) |
198 |
(100.0) |
563 |
(100.0) |
The 563 victims reported a total of 879 injuries (Tables 9 and 10). [Note: The number of
injuries is greater than the number of victims because a victim can have more than one
injury.] Respiratory irritation was the injury most often reported for both types of
events and by all victim categories, accounting for 47.8% of all injuries reported. Eye
irritation and nausea were the next most frequently reported injuries, 18.1% and 10.4%,
respectively. A transportation event was more likely to result in trauma than an event at
a fixed facility.
During the five year period 51 responders were injured. Of these, 12 had at least 2
injuries, and 2 responders experienced 3 injuries during an incident.
Forty two of the responders experienced respiratory irritation, accounting for 64.6% of
all reported injuries. This finding was not expected because responders typically have
much better respiratory protection available than the other categories of victims.
Thirteen responders wearing "turnouts" experienced respiratory irritation, 2 experienced
eye irritation, 3 skin irritation, and 4 suffered chemical burns. ( See Appendix I for definitions of personal protective equipment.) It appears that "turnouts" may not always
provide adequate protection to prevent these kinds of injuries. However, 8 of these
responders were wearing no personal protective equipment (PPE), 13 were wearing
turnouts, 4 were wearing level B protection, and 2 were wearing level D protection. For
10 of the 42 responders with respiratory irritation, it is not known whether or what kind
of PPE was worn. We can conclude from this information that 23 ( 62%) of these
injured responders were not wearing respiratory protective equipment. Of additional
concern is the apparent inadequacy of Level B protection to prevent respiratory irritation
in 4 of these responders.
Table 9. Distribution of types of injury by type of event
Oregon HSEES 1993-1997
| Injury Type |
Fixed Facility |
Transportation |
All Events |
| No. | % |
No. | % |
No. | % |
| Trauma |
7 |
(0.9) |
23 |
(24.0) |
30 |
(3.4) |
| Respiratory irritation |
394 |
(50.3) |
26 |
(27.1) |
420 |
(47.8) |
| Eye irritation |
157 |
(20.1) |
2 |
(2.1) |
159 |
(18.1) |
| Nausea |
79 |
(10.1) |
12 |
(12.5) |
91 |
(10.4) |
| Heat stress |
1 |
(0.1) |
0 |
(0) |
1 |
(0.1) |
| Chemical burn |
21 |
(2.7) |
4 |
(4.2) |
25 |
(2.8) |
| Thermal burn |
3 |
(0.4) |
0 |
(0) |
3 |
(0.3) |
| Skin irritation |
19 |
(2.4) |
1 |
(1.0) |
20 |
(2.3) |
| Dizziness or other CNS |
24 |
(3.1) |
16 |
(16.7) |
40 |
(4.6) |
| Vomiting |
5 |
(0.6) |
0 |
(0) |
5 |
(0.6) |
| Headache |
44 |
(5.6) |
6 |
(6.3) |
50 |
(5.7) |
| Chest pain |
6 |
(0.8) |
0 |
(0) |
6 |
(0.7) |
| Shortness of breath |
10 |
(1.3) |
0 |
(0) |
10 |
(1.1) |
| Other |
13 |
(1.7) |
6 |
(6.3) |
19 |
(2.2) |
| Total |
783 |
(100.0) |
96 |
(100.0) |
879 |
(100.0) |
Table 10. Distribution of type of injury by victim category
Oregon HSEES 1993-1997
| Injury Type |
Employee |
Responder |
General Public |
All Victims |
| No. | % |
No. | % |
No. | % |
No. | % |
| Trauma |
14 |
(2.6) |
1 |
(1.5) |
15 |
(5.3) |
30 |
(3.4) |
| Respiratory irritation |
214 |
(40.5) |
42 |
(64.6) |
164 |
(57.5) |
420 |
(47.8) |
| Eye irritation |
111 |
(21.0) |
6 |
(9.2) |
42 |
(14.7) |
159 |
(18.1) |
| Nausea |
63 |
(11.9) |
7 |
(10.8) |
21 |
(7.4) |
91 |
(10.4) |
| Heat stress |
1 |
(0.2) |
0 |
(0) |
0 |
(0) |
1 |
(0.1) |
| Chemical burn |
19 |
(3.6) |
4 |
(6.2) |
2 |
(0.7) |
25 |
(2.8) |
| Thermal burn |
3 |
(0.6) |
0 |
(0) |
0 |
(0) |
3 |
(0.3) |
| Skin irritation |
12 |
(2.3) |
4 |
(6.2) |
4 |
(1.4) |
20 |
(2.3) |
| Dizziness or other CNS |
31 |
(5.9) |
0 |
(0) |
9 |
(3.2) |
40 |
(4.6) |
| Vomiting |
1 |
(0.2) |
0 |
(0) |
4 |
(1.4) |
5 |
(0.6) |
| Headache |
38 |
(7.2) |
1 |
(1.5) |
11 |
(3.9) |
50 |
(5.7) |
| Chest pain |
4 |
(0.8) |
0 |
(0) |
2 |
(0.7) |
6 |
(0.7) |
| Shortness of breath |
8 |
(1.5) |
0 |
(0) |
2 |
(0.7) |
10 |
(1.1) |
| Other |
10 |
(1.9) |
0 |
(0) |
9 |
(3.2) |
19 |
(2.2) |
| Total |
529 |
(100.0) |
65 |
(100.0) |
285 |
(100.0) |
879 |
(100.0) |
Three hundred and fourteen employees were injured during the 5 year period. For 129
(41.4%) of these, the type of PPE worn, if any, was unknown. Two hundred and
fourteen employees experienced respiratory irritation. Again, respiratory irritation was
the most common type of injury among employees. This is unexpected because
employees, like responders, should have the equipment and training to protect
themselves against inhalation exposures. At least 136 (63.6%) of employees with
respiratory irritation were reportedly not wearing respiratory protective equipment.
Respiratory irritation and eye irritation were the most common injuries reported among
the general public. There is, however, no protection from airborne exposures for the
general public other than removal from the area.
Most Frequently Released Chemicals
The ten chemicals most often released between 1993 - 1997 are listed in Table 11.
Together, they account for 37.5% of all chemicals released. Ammonia and chlorine
were the two chemicals most often involved in a release.
Table 11. Top Ten Chemicals Released
Oregon HSEES 1993-1997
HSEES Standard
Chemical Name |
Frequency
of Releases | % |
| Ammonia |
84 |
(7.5) |
| Chlorine |
82 |
(7.3) |
| Paint or Coating NOS |
71 |
(6.3) |
| Hydrochloric Acid |
50 |
(4.5) |
| Sodium Hydroxide |
30 |
(2.7) |
| Sulfuric Acid |
27 |
(2.4) |
| Polychlorinated Biphenyls |
25 |
(2.2) |
| Ethylene Glycol |
21 |
(1.9) |
| Solvent NOS |
17 |
(1.5) |
| Pesticide NOS |
13 |
(1.2) |
An evacuation was ordered for 245 (26.3%) of the events reported during the five year
reporting period. In Table 12, it can be seen that the two chemicals most often
associated with evacuations were chlorine and ammonia.
The ten chemicals most frequently released during victim events are listed in Table 13.
Chlorine was most often associated with injuries; ammonia was ranked fourth in victim-events.
Table 12. Top ten chemicals spilled for events where an evacuation was ordered
Oregon HSEES 1993-1997
HSEES Standard
Chemical Name |
Frequency
of evacuation events | % |
| Chlorine |
44 |
(18.0) |
| Ammonia |
34 |
(13.9) |
| Multiple Chemical Release |
33 |
(13.5) |
| Hydrochloric Acid |
11 |
(4.5) |
| Freon NOS |
7 |
(2.9) |
| Lacrimating Agent NOS |
5 |
(2.0) |
| Paint or Coating NOS |
5 |
(2.0) |
| Carbon Monoxide |
4 |
(1.6) |
| Explosives |
4 |
(1.6) |
| Sulfur Dioxide |
4 |
(1.6) |
Table 13. Top ten chemicals released for events with victims
Oregon HSEES 1993-1997
HSEES Standard
Chemical Name |
Frequency
of Victim-Events | % |
| Chlorine |
27 |
(15.6) |
| Multiple Chemical Release |
26 |
(15.0) |
| Hydrochloric Acid |
13 |
(7.5) |
| Ammonia |
12 |
(6.9) |
| Paint or Coating NOS |
7 |
(4.0) |
| Lacrimating Agent NOS |
6 |
(3.5) |
| Carbon Monoxide |
5 |
(2.9) |
| Freon NOS |
4 |
(2.3) |
| Sodium Hydroxide |
4 |
(2.3) |
| Solvent NOS |
3 |
(1.7)
|
|
|
|
|
