Chemical Reactivity Hazards

Chemical Reactivity Hazards Menu Workers' Rights

Hazard Evaluation

Determining the potential for interactions is not always easy. The key to evaluating chemical reactivity hazards is to first determine what chemicals exist in the workplace, and then determine which chemicals are reactive with other materials. The following resources aid in evaluating reactive interactions and their potential hazards.

  • Chemical Reactivity Worksheet. Collaboration of several organizations including the Center for Chemical Process Safety, Environmental Protection Agency, NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration, The Materials Technology Institute, Dow Chemical Company, Dupont, Phillips. Provides a program that can be used to find out about the reactivity of substances or mixtures of substances.
Resources
  • Process Safety Progress 21.4 (December 2002).
    • Kao, C, et al. "An Index-Based Method for Assessing Exothermic Runaway Risk." Pages 294-304. Proposes a simplified mathematical and tabular method for assessing the risk of exothermic runaway reactions, based on the calculated hazard index.
  • EPA Chemical Safety Alert: Identifying Chemical Reactivity Hazards Preliminary Screening Method, May 2004. Introduces small-to-medium-sized facilities to a method developed by the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) to screen facilities for chemical reactivity hazards.
  • Lewis, Richard J., Sr. Sax's Dangerous Properties of Industrial Materials. 12th Edition, New York: John Wiley and Sons, December 2012. Provides information on the hazards of substances used in industry. Includes toxicological, fire, reactivity, explosive potential, and regulatory information.
  • Urben, P.G. Ed. Bretherick's Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards. 8th ed. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Science and Technology Books, 2017. Includes every chemical for which documented information on reactive hazards has been identified. Covers more than 5,000 elements and compounds, along with secondary entries involving two or more compounds, and features extensive cross-referencing, which links similar compounds of incidents not obviously related.
  • American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) Guideline Series:
    • Guidelines for Chemical Reactivity Evaluation and Application to Process Design. New York: Wiley-AIChE, 2004. Provides principles and strategies for the evaluation of chemical reactions, and for using this information in process design and management.
    • Guidelines for Hazard Evaluation Procedures - With Worked Examples. 3rd ed. New York: Wiley-AIChE, 2008. Provides process engineers with up-to-date on the effective methodologies that process safety demands.
    • Guidelines for Safe Warehousing of Chemicals. New York: Wiley-AIChE, 1998. Presents performance-based approaches to such hazards as health effects, environmental pollution, fire, and explosion that provides practical means to minimize the risk of these hazards to employees, the surrounding population, the environment, property, and business operations.
    • Guidelines for Safe Storage and Handling of Reactive Materials. New York: Wiley-AIChE, 1995. Presents critical guidelines that can significantly reduce the risk or mitigate the severity of accidents associated with storing and handling reactive materials.
    • Guidelines for Engineering Design for Process Safety. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley-AIChE, 2012. Includes guidance on Basic Physical Properties /Thermal Stability Data.