CHEMREG - USING CASE-BASED REASONING TO SUPPORT HEALTH AND SAFETY COMPLIANCE IN THE CHEMICAL-INDUSTRY

CHEMREG is a large knowledge-based system used by Air Products and Che micals, Inc., to support compliance with regulatory requirements for c ommunicating health and safety information in the shipping and handlin g of chemical products. This article concentrates on one of the knowle dge bases in this system: the case-based reasoner. The case-based reas oner addresses the issue of how proper communication of public health and safety information can be ensured while rapid and cost-effective p roduct evaluation is allowed in the absence of actual hazard testing o f the product. CHEMREG generates estimates of hazard data for new prod ucts from similar products using an existing relational database as a case library. Implementation of the case-based reasoner in rules and o bjects using a commercial knowledge-based system shell is described. A lthough some refinements remain, the performance of the case-based rea soner has met its design goals.