නවතම පුවත්

With the development of the world’s industrialization and the increasing population, the chemical industry is booming, the chemical plant accidents continue to rise rapidly, Sri Lanka is no exception and has been experiencing chemical disasters. The very recent examples are fires that broke out at “Global Care Products”, Kandana and “Watercare Technologies (Pvt) Ltd”, Homagama on 8th August 2023, and 17th August 2023 respectively. Both industries have used flammable and volatile chemicals with low flash points as raw materials in their manufacturing processes. The main danger from smoke is reduced visibility. Smoke and toxic gases and vapours generated during a fire are responsible for the harmful effects such as respiration difficulties, and mild irritation of the eyes, nose and skin.

As a multi-disciplinary technical service provider functions under the Disaster Management division of the Ministry of Defense, the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) was informed by the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) and Disaster Management Center (DMC) of both of these incidents. Consequently, a team headed by the Director of the Environmental Studies and Services Division reached the location immediately in each case and monitored gas concentrations to identify the risk levels for the safety of surrounding communities, and were reported to relevant authorities and responsible institutes for immediate action since the actions taken in the initial minutes of an emergency are critical in saving lives and safeguarding the livelihoods of vulnerable people.

These chemical fire incidents in Sri Lanka shed light on both the progress made and the challenges that remain in ensuring effective chemical fire safety and emergency response and emphasize a national chemical emergency coordinating structure, including appropriately trained staff with the right knowledge and skills for dealing with each of the stages of the disaster cycle.

WKN Chandrasena
Civil Engineer
Environmental Studies & Services Division
National Building Research Organisation

Figure 1: Fire breaks out at Global Care Products, Kandana

Figure 2: Fire breaks out at Watercare Technologies (Pvt) Ltd, Homagama