Chemical Reaction Hazards – an Evolving Approach

Process Safety within Pfizer has evolved over a 25 year period and this paper briefly discusses why and how this has happened and what an assessment program should look like. This growth has led to an investment in equipment, people and facilities but in today’s competitive environment it is critical we examine how we can maintain a safe working environment whilst using our resource in the most efficient way. This can be achieved by ensuring a safety assessment is not an “add on”, but an integral part of chemical development. The use of newer and more efficient calorimetry techniques will be discussed along with the use of non specialist lab resource and equipment, to help provide appropriate safety information for the intended scale of operation. The development of a modern day strategy for the use of theoretical calculations for reaction heats also forms a major component of this evolving approach.