At 8:30 a.m. on May 13, 2020, Employee #1 and Employee #2 were working to pressurize portable fire extinguishers. At some point, the extinguisher being worked on by the Employees exploded. Both Employees received severe lacerations to unspecified parts of their bodies. Employee #1 was killed, and Employee #2 was hospitalized due to his injuries. […]
A manual ¼ turn ball valve (#1) was the lead isolation valve in a Double Block and Bleed arrangement. The valve handle was incorrectly secured using a run of pipe BELOW the valve. As shown, the valve handle would swing down in order to OPEN the valve. With the chain securing the valve on the
A few weeks ago a client asked me to review a new N95 Filtering Face Piece (FFP) respirator they had received from a salesperson. This new N95 was very unique and it was touted to be NIOSH approved while being a “strapless” FFP. I was confused, how can a NIOSH N95 FFP be “strapless”. To
One of the things that drive me INSANE during an audit or hazard assessment is a PRCS rescue team that is equipped only with SCBA’s. To this day, I have ALWAYS been able to find an entry portal that is too small for a rescuer wearing an SCBA to pass through. It then takes me
I have been working with a client on developing their PRCS Rescue team and of course, we get to the final phase, training the team, and the questions begin with how long is the training. Now, the topic of training and its time commitment was discussed a long time ago; even before they decided they
Incorporated by Reference (IBR) is the act of including a second document within another document by only mentioning the second document. This act, if properly done, makes the entire second document a part of the main document. Incorporation by reference is found over 1,445 times in OSHA standards, with 949 being related to the General
The following policy updates apply to anhydrous ammonia storage tanks (tanks) in the state of Kansas as of 2/13/2021. The state has issued new retirement dates for the “railcars” that have been modified and used as fixed storage tanks for decades. This policy is intended to apply to the Fertilizer Industry within the state. It
GAO’s analysis of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) data showed that the number of recordkeeping violations OSHA cited fluctuated over 15 years. An April 2012 federal court decision (that effectively limited the time period for citing these violations) and a January 2015 expansion of OSHA’s rule for reporting severe injuries and illnesses coincided with
Having spent my entire safety career in chemicals, I have always been amazed when communities rezone and permit housing developments such as apartments/condos with high density populations within spitting distance of chemical/processing facilities and then the city officials are furious when there is an event that causes disruption in these housing developments. This story is
Years ago, WorkSafe British Columbia (BC) put out a really nice video about a fatality caused by a worker welding on a used Acetone Drum. Although the video states the drum is a 44-gallon drum, it is in fact a 55-gallon drum. 44 imperial gallons is equal to 52 US gallons – which we call
The Year 2020 was a trying time, but some exciting news has come out of 2020… Jack Rabbit III is in the works. The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CSIA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have been working on the infamous Jack Rabbit study Phase III since early 2020. Without question, these Jack
Respondent is the owner and/or operator of the Facility and has developed an RMProgram accidental release prevention program for the Facility. On July 23, 2019 – July 25, 2019, the EPA conducted an on-site inspection of the RMProgram related records and equipment for the purpose of assessing the Respondent’s compliance with the RMProgram requirements and
