ChemReg: Using Case-Based Reasoning to Support ealth and Safety Compliance in the Chemical Industry

ChemReg is a large knowledge-based system used by Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. to support compliance with regulatory requirements for communicating health and safety information in the shipping and handling of chemical products. This presentation concentrates on one of the knowledge bases in this system: the case-based reasoner. The case-based reasoner addresses the issue, How can proper communication of public health and safety information be insured while allowing for rapid and costeffective product evaluation in the absence of actual hazard testing of the product? Estimates of hazard data from similar products are generated for new products using an existing relational database as a case library. Implementation of the cased-based reasoner in rules and objects using a commercial KBS shell is described. While some refinements remain, the performance of the casebased reasoner has met expectations.* ChemReg is a knowledge-based system begun by Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. of Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1993 to support compliance with regulatory requirements for communicating health and safety information in the shipping and handling of chemical products. Today the ChemReg system consists of three knowledge bases, a large relational database of product information, and an on-line system that is used throughout the United States and Europe. The purpose of the system is to automatically generate safety information for transporting and handling chemicals. Background: Purpose and Justification of CheuiReg The chemical industry is a highly regulated industry. Every hazardous chemical product must have a set of shipping descriptions that conform to large bodies of strict regulations issued by the Department of Transportation Copyright