Nine (9) grain dust explosions in 2024 in the USA caused two (2) injuries and NO fatalities. These numbers are similar to last year’s (nine explosions, 12 injuries, and no fatalities) and on par with the 10-year national average of 8.6 explosions. The explosions occurred in:… Membership Required You must be a member to access...
Many folks will focus on ONLY three (3) criteria for applying this “exception” to OSHA LOTO standard 1910.147. And these (3) criteria are just opening the gates to LOTO Hell. Far too often we find the “exception” has become the rule and LOTO has become the exception. So what are the FIVE (5) criteria we…...
Sometimes a lawyer or set of lawyers can surprise us… This is a quote from a recent OSHRC ALJ decision, regarding the employer’s responsibility to conduct inspections of the workplace to identify and correct hazards: “As an employer, Respondent is obligated to provide safe working conditions and ensure safe work practices. Implicit in that obligation…...
I have written dozens of articles around these “safety myths”, but Jonathan Zimmerman and I were not selected to present this at ASSP several years ago so I thought I would share it as a series here. These are topics that I still get challenged on in 2024/2025 and often I am unable to convince…...
The recent news from Boeing’s CEO regarding their cultural challenges reminded me of a discussion I had with one of my favorite plant managers, Dale Fannin, in 1996. It was an uncomfortable discussion, as I had my a_s handed to me, regarding all my “cheerleading” rather than being a safety leader. Dale, as were two…...
A soft drink manufacturer had a 3-ton capacity carbon dioxide (CO2) receiver tank at the plant. The tank contained 2000 pounds on the day of the explosion. The establishment was evacuated due to flooding river waters in the area. The plant was secured and evacuated. No employees were at the workplace. Suddenly, the storage tank…...
On September 19, 2002, Employee #1 was painting one (1) of six (6) tanks containing carbon dioxide when three (3) of them suddenly exploded. He was killed. The tanks were originally built as railroad tank cars for liquefied petroleum gas and they were not designed to store carbon dioxide…. Membership Required You must be a...
At 7:00 a.m. on October 31, 2022, an employee, 36, was brazing a copper line in an electrical equipment room that was equipped with a carbon dioxide fire extinguishing system. The fire extinguishing system activated, discharging and flooding the room with carbon dioxide. The employee was unable to escape the room and was overcome and…...
In response to a report of a fatality at Respondent’s place of business, Complainant initiated an inspection that concluded with Complainant issuing a four-item Citation and Notification of Penalty. For the most part, the specifics of the alleged violations—which include: are not particularly complicated. The wrinkle in this case is whether the workers identified by…...
“Why did they have a Rupture Disc and a Relief Valve together?” As I alluded to in my post regarding CBS’s update, this arrangement is fairly common but comes with some very SPECIFIC requirements. These requirements can be found in: But the top four (4) requirements, we as safety engineers should be looking for in…...
I have shared the ASME and NBIC “code” requirements for these arrangements and it has already stirred a number of debates/questions; of which the API has offered some excellent guidance on this design. (emphasis by me)… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...
It has grown tiresome, but it remains a teachable moment, to debate “engineers” who want part of ASME/NBIC to be the gospel and other parts not so much. The ammonia refrigeration industry just can’t seem to grasp the critical need in their “Common PRV Header Design” v.s. having more “holes in the roof” (as they…...
