Report on

“International Phosgene Conference” Date: 27th August, 2013 Venue: Vadodara

Organized by Knowledge Partner Supported By

2

Contents Summary ................................................................................................................................................................ 3

Session I – Speaker Profiles .................................................................................................................................... 4

Session I - Details ................................................................................................................................................... 4

Welcome Address & Introduction to the Conference ....................................................................................... 4

Medical Emergency Response, Medical Badges (PPE) ....................................................................................... 4

Industry’s Phosgene Concept & Phosgene Regulatory Developments in Other Countries, Impact on

India ................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Incident & Near Incident Management, RCA’s, Tri/Di – Phosgene Safety & Logistics ...................................... 5

Toxic Mechanisms of Phosgene and Congeners & Impact on Global Workplace/Emergency Response

Standards ........................................................................................................................................................... 6

Session II – Speaker Profiles ................................................................................................................................... 6

Session II - Details .................................................................................................................................................. 7

Phosgene Derivatives & Their Applications ....................................................................................................... 7

Safety Features of Phosgene Plant At GNFC ...................................................................................................... 7

Interactive Workshop ............................................................................................................................................ 7

Team Formation ................................................................................................................................................. 7

Team Presentations ........................................................................................................................................... 8

Feedback from Dr. Kurt Meurer ......................................................................................................................... 8

Feedback from Mr. Ravi Kapoor ........................................................................................................................ 8

Vote of Thanks ....................................................................................................................................................... 8

Way Forward .......................................................................................................................................................... 9

3

Summary

The second International Phosgene Conference was held on 27th August 2013 at the Welcome Hotel in Vadodara. The conference saw excellent participation from the national and international industry members. Around 75 delegates from 15 different organizations took part in the conference. There were presentations on various interesting topics related to the safety aspects, global regulatory scenarios, medical treatment and toxicology profiling. Indian companies also showcased their strengths in terms of phosgene related products and safety aspects followed.

An interactive workshop provided as an excellent forum for all, to discuss the topics covered during the day and to understand it’s relevant to the Indian industry. It also paved way for topics that can be discussed during the next such event. The session was concluded with a promise of more collaboration between the various players and help India take a centre stage in the global scenario. ICC suggested formation on a Phosgene Safety Council to help the Indian industry.

National Speakers 3

International Speakers 4

Participants ~100

4

Session I – Speaker Profiles

Name Organization Designation

Mr. Ravi Kapoor ICC, Heubach India Additional VP, ICC

MD, Heubach India

Dr. Stefan Weberndorfer BASF SE Chairman, Phosgene Medical

Expert Group, III

Dr. Kurt Meurer Bayer Material Science AG,

Germany

Chairman, Global Production

Safety Exchange Advisory Group

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang

Mackenroth

BASF Polyurethanes, Brussels Director – TDI, MDI

Prof. Dr. Jurgen Pauluhn Bayer Pharma, Germany Chief Expert Toxicology

Session I - Details

Welcome Address & Introduction to the Conference

Mr. Ravi Kapoor, ICC welcomed the dignitaries and the audience. He gave a gist of the last conference

held and the positive outcomes from the same. Also, he briefed the audience about the expectations

from this conference and emphasized on sessions being more interactive and discussion oriented. He

also thanked iNDEXTb and government of Gujarat for its help and support for conducting this

conference.

The event was commenced by the auspicious lamp lighting ceremony. The foreign speakers, Mr. Ravi

Kapoor and Mr. Kirtan Vyas each took turn for the same.

Mr. Kapoor then introduced each speaker and gave a brief profile about them. He mentioned their

education and professional experiences and how they have contributed to the Phosgene industry.

Medical Emergency Response, Medical Badges (PPE)

Dr. med. Stefan Weberndorfer – BASF SE, provided a high-level view of the Phosgene handling sites at

BASF and indicated how the company has adopted the Responsible Care framework as a part of its

values and principles.

He gave an overview of the document of BASF, created from III-report, regarding first aid and medical

treatment for Phosgene exposed workers. He explained few important and relevant sections in detail.

He explained how the decision tree is used in his organization by medical people to understand what

type of treatment is required for various levels of Phosgene exposures. The topic of ‘How Phosgene

enters the human body and causes lung edema’ was covered by him in detail. He explained different

levels of Phosgene exposure and what sort of treatment can be given to these people. He stressed on

5

the fact that medical staff needs to be well educated and trained in order to take quick and relevant

treatment decisions.

He also deliberated on the importance on Phosgene indicator badges, how these badges must be used

and interpreted by workers, plant managers and medical staff. He stated that these badges should not

be used by plant managers for taking decisions but by medical staff for providing first aid treatment.

He finally concluded by giving insights on how various other treatments like, decontamination, rest and

use of oxygen for treating the affected people.

Industry’s Phosgene Concept & Phosgene Regulatory Developments in Other Countries,

Impact on India

Dr. Kurt Meurer – Bayer Material Science AG, began his presentation by thanking all for conduction the

second conference. He gave the big picture about the Phosgene industry and the changes since 2012.

He mentioned about the ever increasing applications. He highlighted the potential in industry and

contribution by various regions of the globe.

Dr. Meurer sensitized the audience on key areas that companies should look into for better

management of safety related to Phosgene. He added that a comprehensive and focused strategy is

required by every company. He threw light on how the processes have been significantly improved in

the industry over time.

He discussed key statistics about the various accidents related to Phosgene industry across the globe

and detailed the safety approaches into primary and secondary measures, pertaining to protective and

mitigation measures. He also discussed about various international manuals which could be used as a

benchmark for safety. He also introduced www.phosgenesafety.info which is a good repository for

safety related information.

He then briefed the audience about various Phosgene conferences held across the globe and expressed

his pleasure on how various regulatory bodies across the globe have aligned medical, toxicological and

regulatory data. He emphasized the importance of India in the global Phosgene market and was glad

that India has joined the global network. He concluded wishing luck to Indian companies and extending

his support for future.

Incident & Near Incident Management, RCA’s, Tri/Di – Phosgene Safety & Logistics

Dr. W. Mackenroth – BASF SE, Germany initiated the presentation indicating the key practices to be

followed for Incident Management Reporting. He explained how every incident is reported and

maintained at BASF and how the global Incident database is updated. He explained how a Root Cause

analysis can be done to identify the exact reason due to which the incident occurred. He also shared an

indicative list of categories for Phosgene service.

Dr. Mackenroth introduced the audience with the manufacturing process of triphosgene. He also

sensitized the participants on physical and chemical properties of the chemical, pointing out its stability

at various temperatures, toxicity, decomposition and safety implications at high temperature.

6

He further discussed about various packaging materials used to store triphosgene and added that

triphosgene diffuses through PE bags and can be harmful. He stated that currently there are no

analyzers to detect presence of triphosgene. He suggested that the chemical should not be stored in

ambient temperature for a long time.

Dr. Mackenroth concluded that triphosgene is relatively a safe chemical provided that it is re-tested for

its purity, stored appropriately and packaged in prescribed, safe materials.

Toxic Mechanisms of Phosgene and Congeners & Impact on Global

Workplace/Emergency Response Standards

Prof. Dr. Jurgen Pauluhn – Bayer Material Science AG initiated the presentation by explaining the

importance of toxicology. He stated that it acts as a risk management tool for plant managers and

regulators to determine safety standards at plant at an optimal cost level.

He explained how various toxicology studies are used to determine workplace standards. He further

added how these studies are used to close the data gaps which help in setting optimum exposure levels.

In absence of these tests regulatory bodies might take incorrect decisions which might lead to problem

for the industries.

He explained in detail one of the inhalation tests conducted on rats and dogs and how results for these

tests are used to extrapolate numbers for humans. He also explained the various factors and data points

used in calculation of these numbers and analytical methods like Real Time FT-IR technique. These

numbers then help to determine the actual limits for exposure and what kind of treatment is required.

He stated that the tests also indicated chronic toxicity does not exist only acute toxicity exists because of

phosgene inhalation.

He explained how AEGL-1, AEGL-2 and AEGL-3 levels are determined using these tests which can be

used for land use planning, factory planning and emergency response. These limits have been

harmonized across regions due to these tests. The tests showed that corticoids and diuresis should not

be done in case of phosgene inhalation.

He concluded his presentation by stating that toxic potency of triphosgene is similar to phosgene but its

mode of action is different and so are its treatment requirements.

Session II – Speaker Profiles

Name Organization Designation

Mr. Shiv Kumar Agarwal Atul Limited President, R&D

Mr. K.K. Srivastava GNFC Senior Manager

7

Session II - Details

Phosgene Derivatives & Their Applications

Dr. S.K. Agarwal, Atul Ltd, thanked the dignitaries and ICC for organizing the conference and giving a

chance to showcase Atul’s Products. He began by providing a brief overview of phosgene, mentioning

about its discovery, early production, physical and chemical properties and applications. He added that

interestingly, phosgene is only a raw material or an intermediate, the end product does not have

phosgene content.

He then provided a view on Atul’s manufacturing facilities and indicated that Atul has a production

capacity of 10 MM tons which they plan to double by 2025. He then spoke about the various categories

of products produced at Atul. For each of the category he mentioned various processes available in

literature, patented processes developed by Atul, the yields, quality, purity, storage conditions,

applications and production capacities.

At the end he suggested that such knowledge transfer sessions and transparent communication are a

way forward for the industry. He concluded by stating that Atul has planted 1 million trees which shows

its commitment to the society.

Safety Features of Phosgene Plant At GNFC

Mr. K.K. Srivastava – GNFC, started by giving a brief company profile about GNFC and mentioned that

the current turnover is about USD 600 million. He then gave an introduction on the Aniline/TDI complex,

its inception, milestones and facilities.

He then explained in detail about the safety measures which have been installed at GNFC for the

phosgene plant including the instrument designs, sensors, power systems and maintenance procedures.

He concluded by stating that GNFC also a dedicated medical personnel and fire and safety departments

to handle any emergencies.

Interactive Workshop

Team Formation

A workshop was conducted to make the session more interactive. Mr. Ravi organized it in an innovative

way, where the entire group was divided into two teams; “Team Responsible” & “Team Safety”; to

ensure maximum participation. Each team had a mix of doctors and engineers representing different

companies. The groups were given a time of 25 minutes to discuss and present on what was their

perception about the presentations, relate it to Indian context, identify any gaps if present, lessons to be

learnt from prior incidents.

8

Team Presentations

The teams then presented their findings individually. Both teams were very satisfied with the morning

presentations and had a lot to learn from it. They suggested that there is a lot of knowledge gap in the

industry in terms of equipment designs, phosgene badges, workplace standards, R&D & medical

treatments. They urged ICC and the industry to take concrete steps to close these gaps. The teams also

stressed the need to include community awareness programs for better disaster management cases.

They asked the panel to share their views on better equipments like scrubbers, analyzers, badges, batch

processes and curtain techniques.

Feedback from Dr. Kurt Meurer

Dr. Meurer was very impressed with the progress made by the Indian companies in such a short span of

time. He also stressed on the need of more quality research and suggested ICC to play a pivotal role. He

discussed a few points raised by the teams, like an excellent discussion between him and Mr. Srivastava

regarding the water/ammonia curtain techniques. He urged the participants to refer to

www.phosgenesafety.org for more information. He suggested that some of the questions could not be

answered in short and needed more time. He suggested these could be some of the sessions for next

conference:

Details about plant and equipment designs and maintenance procedures Phosgene Badge manufacturers Training for medical staff Emergency disaster plans and community awareness

He concluded that both the teams had done an excellent job and both were winners in his mind.

Feedback from Mr. Ravi Kapoor

Mr. Kapoor shared his feedback stating that he was very pleased with the way the conference went and

some of the discussions that took place. He stressed on the importance of Responsible Care certification

and asked more companies to adopt it. He also suggested the importance of a Safety Officer in an

organization and that none of the teams brought up that point. He ended by emphasizing that the most

important factor for safety to increase was an attitude change to value human life.

Vote of Thanks Dr. Sairam Potaraju, Bayer MaterialScience Pvt. Ltd, thanked everyone for making the conference a

huge success. He specially thanked Mr. Ravi Kapoor and Dr. Kurt Meurer for their efforts to organize this

conference and give their valuable time. Mementos were given to all speakers and certificates were

distributed to all participants.

Dr. Sairam hoped that more such sessions are conducted in future to reduce the knowledge gap in the

country which will help the players to reach international standards. He stated that there is a clear

writing on the wall that companies to be world class to sustain in today’s business environment. He

9

suggested formation of a special body or committee related to Phosgene industry which can take up the

cause at an international level. Mr. Ravi vowed to put this plan to action as soon as possible and asked

all companies to nominate two representatives each to form the “Phosgene Safety Council (PSC)”.

Way Forward

There is a need of increased focus in the phosgene safety related processes in Indian companies.

A regulatory authority needs to be created to set-up regulations and key requirements for safety

in Phosgene producing plants.

Need for training in first-aid treatment that needs to be given to workers exposed to safety.

Investment needs to be done by companies in getting Phosgene badges, which are an excellent

indicator for Phosgene exposure. The badge discoloration gives doctors a good indication on

what type of treatment is required.