Cutting and welding processes using electric arcs or oxy-fuel gas flames are necessary for our industrial world. Too often, however, the persons who use, hire, or supervise the use of the processes do not fully appreciate that their improper use can result in the loss of life and property by fire and explosion. Approximately 6 […]
The main elements of a safety culture and their various interactions are previewed below. Each subcomponent will be discussed more fully below:
Approaches to health and safety vary considerably at all levels of management. As we will see, the Human Factors approach wins hands-down.
Human Reliability Assessments (HRA) start by analyzing operations proactively, looking at the types of potential human error and the probability of these happening. An organization must understand what effect such risk will have on safety. It needs to understand how to control or reduce human error so it’s As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP). To
I have mentioned the former plant managers that I was so privileged to have had to opportunity to work for these pioneers in safety. These were Chemical Engineers, but they were safety geniuses before their time. In 1996, I went to work for Dale Fannin, and I had no idea what I was in for.
INTRODUCTION Recent inspection programs for metallic pressure containment vessels and tanks have revealed cracking and damage in a considerable number of the vessels inspected. Safety and hazard evaluations of pressure vessels, as also presented in OSHA Instruction PUB 8-1.5, need to consider the consequences of a leakage or a rupture failure of a vessel. Two
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. When down through the chimney, all covered with soot Came the “Spirit of Fire,” an ugly galoot. His eyes glowed like embers; his features were stern As he looked all around him for something
The Incident: In September 2000, a steel lecture bottle located within a hood in a UNR laboratory ruptured with explosive force. The explosion occurred at night, and no one was present in the laboratory at the time. However, there was significant damage to the lab hood. The gas cylinder contained methyl nitrite (CH3ONO), which had
In the realm of process safety, a Functional Test of the Safety Instrumented System (SIS) is a periodic procedure performed to ensure that an SIS will operate as designed when a real-world demand occurs. While a system might look operational on a control panel, internal “hidden” failures could prevent it from actually shutting down a
In determining threshold quantities for toxic chemicals, OSHA used the Gaussian dispersion model. OSHA made the following assumptions:
