A petrochemical plant has been fined after ethylene, a flammable gas was released from a cracked pipe at the Ethylene Plant. On May 2, 2017, approximately 17 tons of ethylene were released from the pipe. This leak precipitated the formation of a flammable gas cloud of around 2,295,453 cubic ft. The gas cloud was seen […]
The report said an abnormal flow of electricity occurred as a result of “improperly grounded equipment” in the roof area of the tank, a static discharge or ignition charge in the tank was the “most probable cause of ignition” in the October 15, 2019 incident. The tank’s roof
Many of us manage a Respiratory Protection Program for all types of respirators and many types of hazards. What many programs lack is the annual evaluation of the program and its execution. The written program should contain information on how and who will perform this evaluation and although the standard does not state this evaluation
This past January 2021, The Chlorine Institute issued Edition 7 of their Pamphlet 65 – Personal Protective Equipment for Chlor-Alkali Chemicals (which is available for FREE). This is a MUST have document for those who have exposures to: CHLORINE SODIUM AND POTASSIUM HYDROXIDE (10 – 50 WT %) SODIUM HYPOCHLORITE (3 – 20 WT %)
A plastics plant experienced a release of approximately 15,825 pounds of styrene vapor from a railcar on 9/1/2020. The railcar had been on the property since May 2020 (4 months). The styrene began its reaction inside the railcar once the inhibitor had been consumed, leading to the release and evacuations ensued for those located around
Respondent is a plastics material and resin manufacturing plant that produces polyvinyl alcohol from the vinyl acetate process. EPA conducted an inspection of the Facility on May 15 through 17, 20 I8, to determine Respondent’s compliance with 40 C.F.R. Part 68 (the Inspection).
In the latest craze with “lean manufacturing”, a lot of businesses are rearranging their production lines and in a lot of cases, safety was not a serious consideration. We see a lot of emergency egress issues, serious electrical power constraints leading to improper power cord usage, fire extinguisher types and placement issues, etc. But the
Scenario: You have a hazardous material that has a really low PEL and STEL and the process where it is going to be used is an “open process”. Management ask you to perform a hazard assessment and it is determined that the room where this material will be used will need ventilation to ensure exposures
I have always wanted to do this for my own use and over the pandemic, I took the time to compile a breakdown of some of the hazardous materials my clients have into Highly Toxic and Toxic so as to be clear which design requirements apply to which hazardous materials (HAZMATs). For some of these
Anhydrous Ammonia is NOT a toxic nor highly toxic gas, as defined by the International Fire Code (IFC). But if it is not managed as a “toxic,” how do we manage our ammonia gas? The IFC actually puts Anhydrous Ammonia in the…
I have been catching up on my Chlorine posts these last several weeks and some have asked me how I know which chemical goes into which hazard class; specifically, why Chlorine is “only toxic” and not “highly toxic”. As I said in a few of my previous articles on safely managing Cl2, some of my
Chlorine is a “toxic gas” and as such it has special requirements in the IFC as well as the IMC. I have written about how we design our gas cabinets, gas rooms, enclosures, and storage areas based on the IFC Chapter 50 and 60 requirements. In this article, I will address the IMC requirements which
