Hazardous Materials

In the event of malefactions certain materials can cause injury to people and property. Nevertheless, materials that are not classified by law as hazardous can still be dangerous. Thus, each case should be examined and steps should be taken when necessary. “Toxic permits” defines the handling of hazardous materials required by law. Additional requirement from factories by the business permits law is the “Factory file” report which is asked from specific factories (see services). A vast diversity of hazardous materials, pure materials and mixtures, are used today with specific risks from each. Therefore, detailed examination of its chemical, biological and physical characteristics is required as a preliminary condition for forming treatment plans.
As a first step hazardous materials are classified into 9 risk groups.

Group 1 – Explosives.
Group 2 – Gases.
Group 3 – Flammable liquids.
Group 4 – Flammable solids and spontaneously ignited materials.
Group 5 – מחמצנים ועל תחמוצות אורגניות.
Group 6 – Toxic and infectious materials.
Group 7 – Radioactive materials.
Group 8 – Corrosive materials.
Group 9 – Different hazardous materials.

Usually these groups are further divided. For example, group 2.2 which are non-flammable and non-toxic gases as opposed to group 2.3 which are toxic gases and group 2.1 which are flammable gases. Additional classification is according to the emergency code which is a combination of numbers and letters that determine the method of extinguishment and the type of protection gear needed as well as immediate clearance of the site if required. The purpose of these classifications is to primarily divide hazardous materials into groups with similar characterizations and thus similar treatment procedures in case of a malefaction. The main advantage is the ability to mark a package with a simple code or symbol which characterizes the material to a specific reaction pattern and thus enable quick treatment and prevent injury. Further classification is a number defined by the UN. This classification connects each number to a card with a short and well defined description of the material and procedures need to be taken in case of an event. This technique is a compromise between detailed transcription to emergency codes and/ or risk groups. In addition, many factories have detailed treatment plans and instruct their workers on basic procedures in a hazardous materials event. This plan is made by experts and includes specific potential affects of different materials according to their storage, usage, unique characterization of the materials, probability of different malefactions and more. This report examines the potential affects of various events such as a fire pool, toxic clouds, and more. This is summarized in a “Factory file” and/ or risk surveys (see services).