The purpose of this memorandum is to provide interim enforcement guidance on certain handrail and stair rail system requirements under 29 CFR 1910.28(b) and 1910.29(f) to allow employers to comply with proposed changes until the effective date of any new final rule resulting from the 2021 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). This memorandum replaces the […]
I have written about it countless times: putting a flange together is, in many ways, more difficult than welding the pipes together. But many businesses don’t want to pay the rates for Certified Welders and Inspectors and believe their own people can do the piping work simply by using flanges rather than welds. “It’s common
We see many compressed gas cylinders of Asphyxiants in labs within large industrial facilities. We even see these labs increasing their quantities and moving to using Dewars (cryogenic liquid storage) to store their asphyxiants. These dewars are a massive game-changer, as both Liquid N2 and Liquid Ar have expansion ratios of 1:700 and 1:860, respectively.
A couple of weeks ago, I had a poll in my FB Group asking: Is a personal single-gas detector necessary within our breathing zone when wearing an Air Purifying Respirator in a potential IDLH atmosphere? For example, responding to a leak alarm for an NH3 or Cl2 leak. And as usual, the group did NOT
For those who need an image of why 1 psig can be a lethal hazardous energy source! It’s why we say ZERO ENERGY STATE (ZES) in our control of hazardous energy programs. ONLY ZERO = ZERO! SAFTENG members can download the image without a watermark at SAFTENG
We have all heard it and seen the countless banners/signs proclaiming “safety first”. And I have at least 50 shocker photos at SAFTENG of some crazy, unsafe acts caught while hanging such proclamations. I worked for some bosses who I had no doubt were dedicated to worker safety, and none of them liked the “safety
I recently worked on a project with three (3) processes built by three (3) different contractors from three (3) different countries. This business is located in the USA, and the other countries are South Korea, Japan, and China. As you can imagine, we (the USA) use the imperial units of measure, and these other countries
Most safety pros live by the LOTO standard daily, or at least weekly! If not, you may need to re-evaluate where you are spending your time! As there is no other standard that impacts manufacturing businesses and brings more value to our safety efforts than does LOTO (IMPO). So this question gets to the heart
In 2026, cutting and pasting OSHA standards and revising a few words does NOT make for a safety program/safe work practice. Yet already this year, I have seen two LOTO programs that state Lockout and tagout devices shall be standardized within the facility in at least one of the following criteria: Color; shape; or size;
In 2026, cutting and pasting OSHA standards and revising a few words does NOT make for a safety program/safe work practice. Yet already this year, I have seen two LOTO programs that state Lockout and tagout devices shall be standardized within the facility in at least one of the following criteria: Color; shape; or size;
I know many safety professionals will know this, but when we ask operators or “Authorized Employees”, the vast majority have never been trained on the lockout mechanism on these 1/4 turn ball valves!!! Once we know and we use them, should they be fixed/replaced when we find them broken or missing? Of course, we can
This is what over-torquing looks like on a four (4) bolt flange. The gasket began as the image on the bottom and came out as the image on the top! And we wonder how flanges leak, and leak again, and eventually fail?
