On August 11, 2003, a 50-year-old production worker was seriously burned and died 5 days later from a fire that resulted when stored wood flour exploded at a wood-flour mill. The employer is a wood-flour mill that grinds paper-mill waste into a fine powder, and bags and stores it as a marketable product for a […]
In September 2010, a 48-year-old male worker (Victim I) employed by a village Department of Public Works (DPW) and a 51-year-old male volunteer firefighter (Victim II) of the village Fire Department (FD) died after entering a sewer manhole. The manhole was located behind the firehouse. The Fire Chief and a firefighter were called in by
On September 16, 2024, a 20-year-old male wash bay attendant (victim) attempted to utilize an electric grease gun to apply grease to the rear axle of a liquid petroleum gas (LPG) tank trailer. As the victim activated the grease gun, a spark ignited the butane gas that was actively escaping the cargo tank, instantly engulfing
A 62-year-old technician was killed when an LNG vapor cloud exploded while he offloaded liquefied natural gas (LNG) from a tanker semi-trailer. Heworked for his employer, a natural gas supplier, for about five (5) years. The technician was offloading the trailer at a temporary and mobile LNG transfer station. The trailer belonged to the technician’s
DISCLAIMER: I am NOT an Industrial Hygienist, so seek help elsewhere if you find this post intriguing. How many of you use the 95th Confidence Interval in your “Data Sampling”? Whether it’s personal sampling, area sampling, or any sampling looking for safety data, do you attempt to achieve the 95th confidence interval? A 95% confidence
The following are highlights from the 2025 summary of injuries and fatalities associated with agricultural confined spaces: CLICK HERE for the full 2025 report
The tragic dry ice pool incident occurred on February 28, 2020, during a 29th birthday celebration for Russian Instagram influencer Ekaterina Didenko at the Devyaty Val pool complex in Moscow. Party organizers dumped 55 pounds of dry ice into an indoor swimming pool to create a dramatic, foggy visual effect.
Choosing between methane and pentane for calibrating a direct-reading combustible gas indicator (CGI) depends primarily on your specific application, the target hazards in your environment, and sensor technology constraints. But there are BOTH a “Pentane Advantage” and a “Methane Advantage” Match the Target Gas (Best Practice for Specific Hazards)
When you pump reactive, highly polar, or oxidizing gases like chlorine (Cl2), chlorine dioxide (ClO2), or ammonia (NH3) through standard silicone, polyurethane, or Tygon tubing, the tubing acts like a chemical absorber/scrubber. The gas is actively consumed or trapped by the hose before it ever reaches the instrument’s sensors. This creates severe process safety and
NOTE: Be sure to check your BRAND and MODEL for specifics. I have used MSA devices in this article because they are the brand I have used for 30+ years, and I am a huge fan of their products. ALL brands will have similar restrictions. ATTENTION TO these details matters! Yes, MSA enforces strict maximum
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) officially consolidated several legacy respiratory and PPE standards—including NFPA 1981 (open-circuit SCBA) and NFPA 1982 (PASS devices)—into a single unified standard: NFPA 1970. The 2025 edition mandates three (3) primary mechanical and electronic upgrades for all new structural firefighting SCBAs:
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has finalized Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health (IDLH) profiles and technical analytical standards for major toxic hydrogen halides. These mandates establish airborne exposure limits to guarantee rapid worker escape under acute exposure conditions and dictate strict sampling guidelines for modern industrial hygiene. NIOSH has updated
