The Forensic expert kollegium conducts special investigations into the circumstances of industrial accidents. These examinations are carried out by experts who have undergone special training and have been certified by commissions of the Ministry of energy of the Republic of Belarus, as well as by accredited personnel certification bodies in the field of non-destructive testing and occupational safety.

The subject of expertise on investigating the circumstances of industrial accidents includes facts and circumstances occurring as a result of accidents, incidents, and industrial injuries at hazardous production facilities.

Hazardous production facilities include facilities where:

1. The following hazardous substances are produced, used, processed, formed, stored, transported, or destroyed:

• flammable substances – gases and flammable liquids which, under normal pressure and in mixture with air, become flammable and whose boiling point under normal pressure is 20 degrees Celsius or lower;
• oxidizing substances – substances that support combustion, cause ignition and (or) promote ignition of other substances as a result of an exothermic oxidation-reduction reaction;
• combustible substances – liquids, gases, dusts capable of spontaneous ignition, as well as ignition from an ignition source and independent burning after its removal;
• explosive substances – substances capable, under certain types of external influence, of very rapid self-propagating chemical transformation with heat release and gas formation;
• toxic substances – substances capable of causing death to living organisms upon exposure and having the following characteristics:
  • average lethal dose when administered into the stomach from 15 milligrams per kilogram to 200 milligrams per kilogram inclusive;
  • average lethal dose when applied to the skin from 50 milligrams per kilogram to 400 milligrams per kilogram inclusive;
  • average lethal concentration in air from 0.5 milligrams per liter to 2 milligrams per liter inclusive;
• highly toxic substances – substances capable of causing death to living organisms upon exposure and having the following characteristics:
  • average lethal dose when administered into the stomach not more than 15 milligrams per kilogram;
  • average lethal dose when applied to the skin not more than 50 milligrams per kilogram;
  • average lethal concentration in air not more than 0.5 milligrams per liter;
• substances hazardous to the environment – substances characterized in the aquatic environment by the following acute toxicity indicators:
  • average lethal dose during inhalation exposure to fish for 96 hours not more than 10 milligrams per liter;
  • average poison concentration causing a certain effect during exposure to daphnia for 48 hours not more than 10 milligrams per liter;
  • average inhibitory concentration during exposure to algae for 72 hours not more than 10 milligrams per liter;

2. Equipment operating under pressure exceeding 0.07 MPa or at a water heating temperature above 115 degrees Celsius is used;

3. Permanently installed lifting mechanisms, escalators, cable cars, funiculars are used;

4. Melts of ferrous and non-ferrous metals and alloys based on these melts are produced;

5. Mining operations, mineral processing operations, as well as underground operations are carried out.

An organization operating a hazardous production facility is obliged to:

• have a license for operation of a hazardous production facility;
• have an authorized person or authorized body exercising industrial safety control;
• ensure staffing of the hazardous production facility in accordance with established requirements;
• allow work at a hazardous production facility only for persons meeting the relevant qualification requirements and having no medical contraindications for such work;
• ensure training and certification of employees in the field of industrial safety;
• have at the hazardous production facility legislative acts of the Republic of Belarus and technical regulatory documents establishing rules for carrying out work at the hazardous production facility;
• organize and carry out production control over compliance with industrial safety requirements;
• ensure the availability and functioning of necessary devices and systems for monitoring production processes in accordance with established requirements;
• prevent unauthorized persons from entering the hazardous production facility;
• ensure industrial safety examination, as well as technical diagnostics, testing, inspection of structures and technical devices used at the hazardous production facility within the established сроки and according to orders issued in the prescribed manner by the republican state administration body in the field of industrial safety;
• ensure compliance with industrial safety requirements for storage of hazardous substances;
• suspend operation of the hazardous production facility independently or upon order of the republican state administration body in the field of industrial safety and its officials in the event of an accident or incident at the hazardous production facility, as well as upon discovery of newly revealed circumstances affecting industrial safety;
• carry out measures for localization and elimination of consequences of accidents at hazardous production facilities, assist state authorities in investigating the causes of accidents;
• participate in technical investigation of causes of accidents at hazardous production facilities, take measures to eliminate such causes and prevent similar accidents;
• implement technical measures aimed at creation and deployment of engineering systems for control, monitoring and support of actions in case of possible accidents, warning systems, communication systems, means and systems of protection, material, financial and other resources, as well as providing for the creation and equipment of training grounds and simulators for practicing practical skills related to actions during accidents;
• take measures to protect the life and health of employees in the event of an accident at a hazardous production facility;
• keep records of accidents and incidents at hazardous production facilities.

Currently, the Republic of Belarus has developed a comprehensive harmonized legislative framework that makes it possible to ensure industrial safety at all types of enterprises and organizations. As expert practice shows, when an accident or incident occurs, officials or employees of an enterprise simultaneously violate several safety requirements, which together lead to industrial accidents, since with proper organization of production control, a single violation of one safety requirement does not lead to serious consequences.

During expertise investigating the circumstances of industrial accidents, the expert is tasked with determining the most influential and all accompanying causes that led to the occurrence of the accident or incident, as well as ranking all causes of the industrial accident according to the degree of their influence.

The tasks of expertise investigating the circumstances of industrial accidents also include assessing the technical condition of a hazardous production facility before and after the occurrence of an accident or incident, since in the overwhelming majority of cases violators of safety requirements and witnesses attempt to present spontaneous activation of the working element of industrial equipment or sudden failure in the safety system of the hazardous production facility as the cause of the industrial accident.

The Forensic expert kollegium has experience conducting expertise investigating the causes and circumstances of accidents at enterprises and organizations in:

• metalworking industry;
• woodworking industry;
• construction and production of construction materials;
• energy industry;
• chemical industry;
• light industry;
• food industry;
• agriculture.

Examinations are conducted by experts certified as:

• electrical safety specialists by the Energy Supervision Authority of the Ministry of energy of the Republic of Belarus;
• non-destructive testing specialists by the State Standardization Committee of the Republic of Belarus:
  • for visual and measuring inspection;
  • for ultrasonic inspection;
  • for eddy-current inspection;
  • for capillary inspection;
  • for vibration diagnostics.

The following causes of industrial accidents can be identified:

• malfunction of technological equipment;
• malfunction of technological tooling, special devices, cutting tools, auxiliary inventory;
• malfunction of protective guards;
• malfunction of special personal protective equipment;
• failure to ensure proper working conditions at the enterprise (organization);
• violation of production technology;
• employee disregard of industry safety requirements;
• employee violation of production discipline requirements.

If necessary, during expertise investigating the circumstances of industrial accidents, specialists of the Forensic expert kollegium perform engineering strength calculations of technological equipment. Strength calculations are carried out using licensed software - the KOMPAS 3D-V16 computer-aided design system with the APM FEM strength analysis system.

You may contact the Forensic expert kollegium for consultation regarding investigation of circumstances of industrial accidents at: Minsk, Zhukovskaga St., 11A, 4th floor

or by phone: +375 (17) 317 04 71; +375 (17) 317 04 72; +375 (17) 317 04 73; +375 (17) 317 04 74; +375 (17) 317 04 76; +375 (29) 109 60 11; +375 (44) 588 60 11.