A lesson in Pressure Vessel Safety via 1910.169

There are not many workplaces in the USA that do not have an “air receiver”; in fact most have multiple receivers of all different types and sizes.  But for the most part, these vessels operate in the dark corners of the facility – out of sight and out of mind.  Do these vessels pose a hazard to personnel when they are not “managed” properly?  A stark reminder of how dangerous they can be occurred in 2012 at a paper mill when a receiver catastrophically failed killing one worker and injured four others. (See end of this article for more accidents)  Most air receivers in industrial service are large pressure vessels with a capacity from several hundred gallons to several thousand gallons and operate at around 125-150 psi.  OSHA’s 1910.169 is in place to set the baseline for operating these vessels safely; however, we find very few facilities that even know this standard exist, much less that their facility has receivers that fall within this standard.  For those who have a receiver(s) at their facility, here are the requirements:

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