Your Safety is our Highest Priority!
Information of the Public acc. to §§8 and 11 StörfallV (Accident Regulations)
Target of this Information is the Public
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
For more than 80 years, our company is a very important site for research, development and production of high-class chemicals for the plating industry. The protection of environment and people is directly part of our daily action. Important targets of the company are the constant improvement of processes and products, as well as the guarantee of line and operation safety, quality and environmental protection. Our company is subject to the accident regulations due to the quantity and type of handled materials. In our lines, among others, environmentally hazardous or toxic substances are produced and stored. This information is a part of the safety precautions. Here, we have compiled the right safety notes on the conduct in case of an accident for the public.
HSO – Figures, Data, Facts
HSO Herbert Schmidt GmbH & Co. KG was founded in 1936 and is a family-run business in the 4th generation. HSO is among the leading suppliers of process chemistry in the business and produces almost 4000 tons of chemicals per year on the Solingen site. With branches in China and Brazil, HSO has over 100 employees. HSO is subject to a number of legal and official conditions. Our lines meet the legal requirements of the lower class of the Accident Regulations.
The exact data on the proceedings of our company as well as other important information are always available on the homepage of the company – www.hso-solingen.de.
Substances and their Characteristics
In our production and storage systems, the following substances listed in the Accident Regulations can be found:
Oxidizing substances
Acutely toxic
Highly inflammable
Marine pollutant
Safety Management System
Our site has an integrated management system following the Regulation VDI 4060, in which requirements from different fields (health, safety, environment, quality) are compiled in a uniform structure. Advantages of these proceedings are especially:
- The sequence of the processes does not consider single questions quality, environment and safety.
- The processes in their entirety lead to to desired or not desired results and, therefore, have to be seen as a whole.
- Due to the improved overview over the whole business processes and interfaces to externals, significantly shorter reaction times to deviations are the result, like system problems or accidents.
- For the staff, the use of a single set of rules instead of several is more understandable and, thus, more motivating. Double documentation and double work is avoided.
Accident Scenarios – and Protection
In spite of thorough checking and safety precautions, a dangerous situation may occur. E.g. fire, release of liquids or escape of acutely toxic gases may happen. This can result in impairment of people, animals, water and air.
HSO takes care, that the accident risk is reduced to the minimum. The documents like alarm and risk protection plan and accident concept will regularly undergo systematic checking and evaluation.
The last on-site control acc. to § 17 (2) StörfallV took place on 12-13/10/2010. Further extensive information and the control plan acc. to §17 (1) are available from the Bezirksregierung Düsseldorf (local government) as the responsible approval and supervision authority.
The safety equipment and precautions of HSO include among others:
- Fire protection (fire protection concept)
- Fire alarm systems
- Firefighting water supply and firefighting water retaining system
- Mobile firefighting equipment
- Smoke and heat extraction
- Explosion protection
- Continuous training measures of the staff.
Rules of Conduct in Emergencies
Alarm:
By siren signal: one minute of rising and fading howl.
By loudspeaker announcements of the police.
By radio and TV broadcast.
Danger identification:
- Fire or smoke development
What to do:
- Keep calm.
- Observe safety notes.
- Go to closed rooms.
- Close windows and doors.
- Switch off venitlation and air-conditioning.
- Call children to come indoors.
- Inform neighbours and passers-by by calling.
- Receive other people temporarily.
- Wait for notes from the responsible authorities and follow them.
- Switch on TV and radio (radio and TV: WDR).
Important Telephone Numbers in Emergencies
Important! Only use the telephone in emergencies, in order not to block the connections to fire brigade, police or to the rescue services.
0212 658524 – HSO Herbert Schmidt GmbH & Co.KG – Head of Production
112 – all emergency services
110 – Police emergency number
116 117 – Medical emergency service Solingen
0228 1 92 40 – Poison emergency number
For questions and suggestions:
HSO Herbert Schmidt GmbH & Co. KG
Schorberger Str. 18-26
42699 Solingen
Tel: 0212 65850
Fax: 0212 67838
www.hso-solingen.de
