http://www.fertilizerseurope.com/documents/file/SHE%20Report%202007

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EFMA

SAFETY HEALTH &

ENVIRONMENT REPORT NOVEMBER 2007

NOVEMBER 2007

european fertilizer manufacturers association

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Copyright 2007-EFMA EUROPEAN FERTILIZER MANUFACTURERS’ ASSOCIATION AVE. E. VAN NIEUWENHUYSE 4 B-1160 BRUSSELS BELGIUM

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EFMA SAFETY HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT REPORT

CONTENTS

Introduction

2

EFMA’s Product Stewardship Programme

3

Safety

5 ●

EFMA’s Safety Survey in Production

6

●

EFMA’s Incident Reporting

7

●

EFMA’s Safety Seminar

8

●

EFMA’s Guidance Documents

9

❍

Guidance for the Storage, Handling and Transportation of Solid Mineral Fertilizers

Health

9 10

●

Chemical Policy

10

Environment

11

●

EFMA’s Environmental Benchmark Survey in Production

12

●

EFMA’s activities in Agriculture

16

❍

Producting Bio-Energys

16

❍

EFMA Involvement in Good Agricultural Practice

17

❍

Conference on Integrated Farm Management

18

List of EFMA publications

19

Prepared by EFMA

1

DISCLAIMER: The information and guidance provided in this document is given in good faith. EFMA, its members and staff accept no liability for any loss or damage arising from the use of this guidance.

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EFMA SAFETY HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT REPORT

INTRODUCTION

This is the third publication of the EFMA Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) report. This report reviews the activities of EFMA and its members in the area of Product Stewardship, safety and environmental performance, activities related to the REACH Regulation, and activities for the promotion of good agricultural practices.

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E F M A’ S P R O D U C T S T E WA R D S H I P P R O G R A M M E

EFMA’s Product Stewardship (PS) programme was officially launched in September 2003. It is mandatory for EFMA members to implement the programme. It covers the ‘life cycle’ of fertilizers, describing the responsibilities of fertilizer companies for the safety, security, health and environmental aspects in the whole supply chain from sourcing of raw materials, in production, storage and distribution, and for providing guidance to farmers. The programme is available on a CD-ROM with guidance on how to implement PS in the company.

It is also made publicly available on EFMA’s web page www.efma.org. In addition, an audit manual to facilitate self assessments has been made available for EFMA members. An audit is carried out by an independent third party (SGS) every three years, to confirm the members’ adherence to the requirements of the programme. All EFMA’s SHE activities form part of this PS concept.

The first audit of EFMA members was reported in 2005. The results were presented to the EFMA Board of Directors for approval. Those companies that were found to lag behind were audited again the following year after submitting an improvement plan. The next audit of all the members will take place in 2008.

In the reporting year 2006-2007 EFMA has updated the PS programme (version 1.3). Also, EFMA has cooperated with SGS to make the PS programme into a recognised standard in compliance with ISO Guide 65.

In preparation for the 2008 audit, EFMA has organised a training session for the Product Stewards of EFMA member companies on the 25th of September, 2007.

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EFMA’s Product Stewardship Programme for Fertilizers is regularly updated and can be found on EFMA’s website www.efma.org.

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EFMA SAFETY HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT REPORT

SAFETY

The safety of our employees, contractors and consumers gets our utmost attention. EFMA’s activities include: • Safety targets for member companies • Safety benchmarks • Analysis of accidents and incidents • Publication of Guidance Documents • Annual safety seminars

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EFMA’S SAFETY SURVEY IN PRODUCTION Trend lines LTIR EFMA Average 1997-2006

25

20

15

LTIR

Employees Contractor Combined Dotted lines: target 2007

10

5

0 1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

Years

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Note 1: The high figure in 2001 is the result of the Toulouse explosion but was not related to commercial grade fertilizer material.

Note 2: LTIR is defined as the number of injuries per million worked hours leading to the absence from work for 1 day or more.

Figure: LTIR trends of EFMA’s safety performance (reporting years 1997-2006) and targets for 2007.

The Lost Time Injury Rate (LTIR) is a good indicator for the safety performance in a company. In 1997 EFMA started to collect LTIR from member companies on a yearly basis. The target is to reduce the LTIR for employees and contractors continuously and for this purpose, EFMA started to define target figures in 2006. The graph shows the EFMA average LTIR figures as trend lines from 1996 till the reporting year 2006.

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EFMA’s INCIDENT REPORTING EFMA members report occupational accidents, environmental incidents and process related accidents that occur in the fertilizer industry – in Europe and elsewhere. The information is stored in EFMA’s incident database. The database is regularly updated and contains more than 660 entries over a period of 91 years. The most recent version of the database (10-02-1007) has been distributed to EFMA members.

The purpose of this database is to share information amongst EFMA members. New incidents are reported and discussed in EFMA’s Technical, Environment and Safety Committee (TESC) and in EFMA’s Permanent Working Group on Product Safety and Transport (PWG). This enables the industry to share knowledge and learn from past incidents. Selected topics are part of the annual EFMA Safety Seminar for a more detailed analysis of the incidents.

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EFMA’S SAFETY SEMINAR In April 2007 EFMA experts met in Bad Dßrkheim (Germany) for the 10th annual Safety Seminar The topic of the seminar was maintenance, major shut-downs, Safety Integrity Level (SIL), classification and corrosion.

The list below shows the topics of the last ten Safety Seminars.

1997:

Learning from incidents.

1998:

Ammonia.

1999:

Nitric acid.

2000:

Ammonium nitrate.

2001:

Safety management systems.

2003:

Regulatory issues.

2004:

EU legislation related to the Fertilizer Industry.

2005:

Transport including loading and unloading.

2006:

Incidents and lessons to be learned.

2007:

Maintenance, major shut-downs, SIL criteria and corrosion

Participants at the EFMA 2007 Safety Seminar.

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EFMA’S GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS One of the many activities of EFMA’s Technical, Environment and Safety Committee (TESC) is the establishing and issuing of industry guidance documents and easy-to-read instruction leaflets. These documents are considered to be the best practice standards for safe and environmentally correct operations. The documents are made freely available on EFMA’s website www.efma.org for anyone interested.

In 2006-2007 the following document was issued: Guidance for the Storage, Handling and Transportation of Solid Mineral Fertilizers

GUIDANCE FOR THE STORAGE, HANDLING AND T R A N S P O RTAT I O N O F S O L I D M I N E R A L F E RT I L I Z E R S

APRIL 2007

european fertilizer manufacturers association

The guidance is for use by manufacturers, importers, merchants, hauliers, farmers and everyone concerned with the storage, handling and transportation of solid fertilizers. Its purpose is to promote safety and preserve the quality of fertilizers in storage, handling and transport; to safeguard the health of personnel and to avoid hazards to the environment. The guidance is a revision of the former publication by APEA/IFA in 1992, Handbook for the Safe Storage of Ammonium Nitrate Based Fertilizers. Besides up-dating the information given, EFMA has enlarged the scope of the guidance. It now covers all main solid mineral fertilizers and also security related issues.

It considers the environmental aspect in more detail. It suggests ways of good management with a list of basic good practices and also recommends emergency actions and first aid procedures. It emphasises the sharing of learning from accidents and recommends the reporting of accidents more widely throughout the industry to facilitate this process.

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H E A LT H

We accept the responsibility to minimise health risks for our employees and our customers in the production, processing and handling of fertilizers.

We provide information and training for our employees regarding the safety of operations and any health hazards associated with raw materials, chemicals and finished products in the production process. We offer information and training to our customers regarding safe handling and use of fertilizers.

All EFMA members issue safety data sheets. These are based on EFMA’s Guidance for the Compilation of Safety Data Sheets for Fertilizer Materials (1996; under revision).

CHEMICAL POLICY In 2003 EFMA together with The Fertilizer Institute (TFI, USA) completed a research programme with the aim of gathering the toxicological data for 23 fertilizers and their intermediates. Two groups of fertilizers (ammonia group and phosphate group) were submitted for the approval of the physical-chemical and toxicological data at the April 2007 meeting of the OECD member countries. The remaining nitrate and sulphate groups were submitted to the October 2007 meeting and all products were approved.

EFMA has initiated two Task Forces in the reporting year 2006-2007 to prepare EFMA member companies for REACH which came into force on 1st of June, 2007.

1)

TF REACH/HPV

2)

TF MSDS

The Task Force REACH is a discussion platform for questions/confusions that arise from REACH. The TF will also prepare recommendations for joint EFMA activities such as further testing of a selection of common products, quantifying exposures and formation of pre-consortia.

The Task Force MSDS will issue a revision of the EFMA 1996 Guidance for the Compilation of Safety Data Sheets for Fertilizer Materials. This is necessary since new legislation (REACH, Global Harmonized System) demands that additional issues are covered.

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ENVIRONMENT

Taking care of the environment means reducing the emissions associated with the production and use of fertilizers, and using energy and natural resources efficiently. This constitutes an important part of EFMA’s promotion of good manufacturing and agricultural practices.

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EFMA’s ENVIRONMENTAL BENCHMARK SURVEY IN PRODUCTION For 11 years EFMA has been conducting annual environmental benchmarks amongst its members. Data on the emissions of various compounds to water and air from our production facilities are gathered and displayed graphically. This enables EFMA to monitor the development of emissions from the European fertilizer industry and allows all members to compare their plants with those of other participants in the survey. TESC encourages open discussion among its members in order to improve the environmental performance of European fertilizer production.

In December, 2006 the EU Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document Ammonia, Acids and Fertilizers was issued by the EU Commission. This document serves as guidance for National Authorities to set permits to operate. EFMA took active part in the work behind the document and will continue to support the authorities with data for providing a better understanding of the complexities of fertilizer manufacturing processes and emissions for permit setting.

Trend analysis from EFMA’s benchmarking shows a decrease of emissions over the years. As examples of this analysis the graphs displaying NOx emissions from ammonia – and nitric acid plants, N2O emissions from nitric acid plants, emissions of N- and P-components to water and ammonia emissions to air from finished fertilizer plants (urea, AN, CAN, NPK) are presented.

NOx to Air Emission Rate from EFMA Ammonia Plants (Base year = 1996) 120

120

100

Emission Rate (kg emission per tonne produced) Base year is 100%

100

80

80

60

60

40

40

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20

0

0 1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

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2006

NOx emissions into air from ammonia plants.

The base year is 1996. A reduction of 28% has been achieved.

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Total NH 3 Production

Annual NOX Emission Rate

Total Production in Indices

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NOx to Air Emission Rate from EFMA Nitric Acid Plants (HNO3 100%; Base year = 1996) 120

120

100

Total Production in Tonnes Base year 1996

80

80

60

60

40

40

20

20

0

Total Nitric Acid Production

Annual NOX Emission Rate

100

Emission Rate (kg emission per tonne produced) Base year is 100%

0 1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

NOx emissions into air from nitric acid plants.

The base year is 1996 when we first did our benchmark. A 53% reduction has been achieved.

N2O to Air Emission Rate from EFMA Nitric Acid Plants (HNO3 100%; Base year = 1999) 120

100

100

80

80

60

60

40

40

20

20

Emission Rate (kg emission per tonne produced) Base year is 100%

Total Production in Indices

0

Total Nitric Acid Production

Annual N2O Emission Rate

120

0 1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

N2O emissions into air from EFMA nitric acid plants.

EFMA has gathered data on N2O emissions since 1999 and is supportive of implementing appropriate abatement techniques where technically feasible.

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120

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40

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20

20

0

Emission Rate (kg emission per tonne produced) Base year is 100%

Total Production in Indices

Total UREA AN CAN NPK Production

Annual Ammonia Emission Rate

Ammonia to Air Emission Rate from EFMA UREA AN CAN NPK Plants ( Base year = 2000)

0 2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

Ammonia emission into air from finished fertilizer plants (Urea, AN,CAN,NPK) In the year 2000 we started to gather the emission data from finished fertilizers such as Urea, AN, CAN and NPK separately. After a steady decrease of ammonia emissions a slight increase of these emissions can be found in 2006. This is caused by the slight increase in ammonia emissions in NPK plants and Urea plants..

Nitrogen to Water Emission Rate from EFMA UREA AN CAN NPK Plants (Base year = 2000) 120

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100

100

Emission Rate (kg emission per tonne produced) Base year is 100%

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80

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0

Total UREA AN CAN NPK Production

Annual Nitrogen Emission Rate

Total Production in Indices

0 2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

Nitrogen emission into water from finished fertilizer plants (Urea, AN,CAN,NPK) In the year 2000 we started to gather the emission data from finished fertilizers such as Urea, AN, CAN and NPK separately. This graph shows a 40% decrease of nitrogen emissions into water achieved in a period of 6 years.

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100

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0

Emission Rate (kg emission per tonne produced) Base year is 100%

Total Production in Indices

Total N Production P 2O5

Annual Phosphorus Emission Rate

Phosphorus to Water Emission Rate from EFMA Fertilizer Plants (Base year = 1996)

0 1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

Phosphorus emission into water from finished fertilizer plants (mainly NPK) Though with great variations on a yearly base, which may be due to the P-content of different NPK formulations produced, this graph shows an overall decreasing trend in P- emissions into water achieved over a period of 11 years.

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EFMA’S ACTIVITIES IN AGRICULTURE In the year 2006 EFMA issued two publications which will contribute to improving the information and knowledge on the use of fertilizers. One of these publications simply but exhaustively presents the benefit of using fertilizers in the production of bio-energy, making this process highly eco-efficient and improving its productivity. The second publication emphasises the importance of good agricultural practices for the distribution and usage of fertilizers, as part of the industry’s product stewardship. With the same objective of further propagating the principles of Good Agricultural Practice, and more precisely Good Fertilization Practice, EFMA organised a conference on Integrated Farm Management which was held in November 2006.

Producing Bio-Energy: Saving Fossil Resources and Contributing to Limiting Emissions of Greenhouse Gases

The European Union considers biomass a major source for the production of renewable energy. Energy crops can be first grown on the 4 mio. ha of available set-aside land. Mineral fertilizers are very important for the production of bio-energy, as their use enables farmers to produce high biomass yields. These high yields help meet the ambitious targets for bio-energy set by the EU. When using mineral fertilizers, the energy balance is highly positive: mineral fertilizers help produce 4 to 6 times more energy in the form of biomass compared to that consumed while producing, transporting and applying the fertilizer.

At the same time, the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) balance of biomass is almost neutral when biomass is directly used for energy production. When biomass is transformed to biofuels, the GHG balance depends upon losses during the conversion from biomass to fuels; however, when biofuels such as bio-ethanol and bio-diesel substitute fossil fuels in existing applications, the reserves of the fossil fuels last longer and “fossil” CO2 emissions are avoided. Using biomass therefore contributes to a net saving of GHG emissions.

EFMA strongly supports the efficient use of biomass as a source of renewable energy, in order to save resources and reduce the emission of Greenhouse Gases.

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EFMA Involvement in Good Agricultural Practice

EFMA understands and acknowledges the importance of good practices for fertilizer production, distribution and usage as part of the industry’s product stewardship. The above publication presents a simple but exhaustive analysis of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) which need to be applied when using fertilizers. EFMA strongly supports and promotes these GAP, and more specifically the Good Fertilization Practices. The fertilizer industry has, over recent decades, funded a considerable volume of research into efficient and environment-compatible soil management and crop production practices. In addition it has developed and introduced many of the practical tools which assist the farmer to achieve these good practices. Good nutrient and soil management are a core part of the Integrated Farm Management approach now adopted by leading farmers throughout Europe.

With the same objective of further propagating the principles of Good Agricultural Practice, and more precisely Good Fertilization Practice, toward EU officials and other stakeholders involved in agriculture, EFMA organized a conference in November 2006 on Integrated Farm Management, calling on all organisations aiming at a more sustainable agriculture to join forces to facilitate the propagation of GAP to farmers.

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L I S T O F E F M A’ S P U B L I C AT I O N S

List of EFMA’s publications in the period 1990-2007 in the area of: 1 Technology, Safety and the Environment 2 Agriculture and Environment Publications are available from our website http://www.efma.org/ 1990

Hazardous Properties of Ammonia

1991

Recommendations for Safe Storage and Handling of Wet Process Phosphoric Acid (Phosphoric Acid Produced from Sulphuric Acid)

1992

Selected Tests Concerning the Safety Aspects of Fertilizers

1992

Handbook Safe Storage of Ammonium Nitrate Based fertilizers (revised)

1996

Guidance for the Compilation of Safety Data Sheets for Fertilizer Materials (under revision)

1998

Guidelines for Transporting Nitric Acid in Tanks

1998

Code of Best Agricultural Practices for Nitrogen

1999

Energy Recovery by Crops in Dependence on the Input of Mineral Fertilizers

2000

Code of Best Agricultural Practices for Urea

2000

Best Available Techniques

Booklet No. 1: Production of Ammonia Booklet No. 2: Production of Nitric Acid Booklet No. 3: Production of Sulphuric Acid (in collaboration with ESA) Booklet No. 4: Production of Phosphoric Acid Booklet No. 5: Production of Urea and Urea-Ammonium Nitrate Booklet No. 6: Production of Ammonium Nitrate and Calcium Ammonium Nitrate Booklet No. 7: Production of NPK Compound Fertilizers by Nitrophosphate Route Booklet No. 8: Production of NPK Compound Fertilizers by Mixed Acid Route

19

2000

Understanding Phosphorus and its Use in Agriculture

2001

Sustainable Soil Management: An Achievable Goal

2002

Recommendations for safe and reliable inspection of atmospheric, refrigerated ammonia storage

2002

11 Basic Safety Principles (EFMA/IFA)

2002

Harvesting Energy with Fertilizers

2003

Guidance for Safe Handling and Use of Non-conforming Fertilizers and Related Materials. (Producers)

2003

Leaflet Fertilizers and Fire

2003

Farming for the Future

2003

EFMA’s Position on Greenhouse Gases

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2003

The European Fertilizer Manufacturers Association’s position on the European Commission’s proposal for a directive on the EU Emissions Trading: 12 December 2003

2003

Understanding potassium and its use in agriculture

2004

Delivering quality to your food The Benefits of Mineral Fertilizers

2004

Guidance for Safe Handling and Utilization of Non-conforming Solid Fertilizers and Related Materials for Fertilizer Importers, Distributors and Merchants

2004

Understanding nitrogen and its use agriculture

2004

Guidance Relating to Sea Transport of Ammonium Nitrate Based fertilizers

2005

EFMA’s leaflet short version Guidance for Handling Non-conforming Ammonium Nitrate Based Fertilizers in Distribution Chain

2005

Guidance for Ammonia Transport by Rail (revised)

2005

Guidance for The Storage of Hot Ammonium Nitrate Solutions

2005

EFMA’s position paper on N2O Gases

2005

EFMA’s SHE Report October, 2005

2006

Guidance for the Compatibility of Fertilizer Blending Materials

2006

Guidance for the UN Classification of Ammonium nitrate Based Substances

2006

Sustaining Fertile Soils and Productive Agriculture

2006

Producing BioEnergy and making the best of European Land

2006

EFMA’s SHE Report October 2006

2007

Guidance for the Storage, Handling and Transportation of Solid Mineral Fertilizers

2007

Guidance for Ammonia Transport by Rail (English/German)

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Avenue E. van Nieuwenhuyse, 4 B-1160 Brussels Belgium Tel: +32 2 675 35 50 Fax: +32 2 675 39 61 E-mail: main@efma.be For more information about EFMA visit the web-site www.efma.org

european fertilizer manufacturers association