Risk assessment of chemicals used in a brewery and safety function analysis of a large container

This paper reports a study made in a manufacturer of beverages (brewery), aimed at supporting COSHH requirements (control of substances hazardous to health and the environment), under REACH regulation (for registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemicals). The work was divided into two phases, the first of which consisted of a wide-range risk analysis to evaluate 291 recipients containing chemical substances. It was concluded that all recipients were within an “acceptable” risk level, but in specific cases improvement recommendations were made. The second phase was designed to strengthen the previous one, by applying the method Safety Function Analysis (SFA) to assess the relevant Safety Functions (SF) of a specific storage process. The latter covered both environmental and occupational safety issues. The results showed that the risk level of this recipient almost exceeded the “acceptability” limit. In this case 22 SF were identified and evaluated. A few shortfalls were found and, consequently, a number of recommendations were proposed to improve performance of the applicable SF.