A federal workplace safety investigation into a Jan. 19, 2022, ammonia leak that hospitalized two workers and led to the evacuation of about 50 workers at a Canton poultry processing plant found their employer might have prevented the incident by ensuring required safety standards were followed. OSHA found the uncontrolled temperature and pressure conditions on…...
Sometimes it is nice to be validated, even if it is by the government (who sets the minimum performance standards) and about 28 years late! But OSHA has finally made it clear in an LOI that a “single line valve is not permitted for isolation of hazards during entry“… Background: An employer has installed a…...
This video explains Dr. Reason’s Human Failure model that most industries, especially aviation and chemical processing, have been using my entire career. It does a very nice job explaining the types of human failures and their differences. Members can read my 2012 article “Causes of Human Failure” to get a more detailed explanation and to…...
On May 14, 2022, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) conducted a full-scale shell impact test (Test 13) of a DOT-113C120W9 (also identified as DOT-113) specification tank car at the Transportation Technology Center (TTC) in Pueblo, CO. This test was the final impact test in a planned series of four. A DOT-113 is a double-walled tank…...
How many times have you paused before entering a high-noise area to put in your hearing protection, only to get strange looks like, “WTH is taking you so long?” Most workers and even a fair amount of safety professionals do not understand the “subtract 7” approach when performing the attenuation evaluation. The “subtract 7” approach…...
I have been preaching one simple approach to safety management my entire career after having learned it from the master himself… Claude Bloom. BALANCE is the KEY. There is no one magical approach to managing safety in the workplace. These days the big catchphrases are HOP and Psychological Safety. I am a believer in both…...
This is my “high-level” presentation to management teams on what the journey will look like and the effort it will take. It is one thing to say “we want to be world-class” vs. what it will take to get there AND stay there. Heck, I have yet to find a management group that could collectively…...
… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...
At 2:00 p.m. on October 12, 2021, an employee was working on top of a fermentation tank (a confined space), preparing to install a spray nozzle and attach it via a hose to the pump-over riser to begin a pump over. The employee opened the fermentation tank and was found lying on the platform with…...
At 1:00 p.m. on December 16, 2021, an employee was retrieving a waste drum that had fallen into a trash compactor. While the employee was inside the compactor, the waste company attempted to remove the compactor, and the employee was unable to exit. The employee suffered crush/contusion injuries from the waste compactor and was hospitalized,…...
At 4:45 p.m. on December 3, 2021, an employee was using a propane torch to loosen asphalt from the ejection chute of a silo while cleaning the chute. A flash fire occurred at the opening of the chute, striking the employee. The employee incurred 3rd-degree burns on 65% to 75% of his body, a broken…...
At 4:30 a.m. on December 31, 2021, two employees were walking in a Powered Industrial Truck (PIT) traffic area when an Electrical Tow Motor struck them. The employer established a PIT traffic only during dispatching hours between 4:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., which is enforced by posting a supervisor to stop foot traffic. The facility…...
