In this picture from the Jack Rabbit, we can see the Liquid NH3 that has pooled under the container. This occurred under 95F temperature with a high wind speed, which blew the cloud away from the pool making the pool visible. The picture below was taken 10-seconds after the container was empty. Also, notice the…...
The data from the Jack Rabbit tests done over the past decade is immense and exceptional learning tools. I always make sure my students, whether it be a HAZMAT responder class or a Process Safety course, fully understand how Vapor/Gas Density impacts us in a LOPC event. Using Chlorine and Ammonia, the contrast is stark…...
This video is from 2013, but I thought they did such an excellent job explaining 1234yf and how we went from 134a to this new refrigerant I should share it for context. I have been very hard on the suppliers of this new Low GWP refrigerant over the years and this video sums up the…...
Question: Would you/Do you permit 2-way radios, and their attachments, that do NOT carry a rating for HAZLOCs (Class I, Div 1/2) to be used inside a Level A suit? Recently I was asked to help a client in the great state of NM with their emergency response capabilities. Our first step was to assess their…...
At approximately 7:00 p.m. on November 15, 2006, Employee #1 was a process operator at the Chlorine Liquefaction Unit, Block A-19. He was preparing to bleed off chlorine on a process line, to clear the line for maintenance work. The valve handle indicated that it was in a CLOSED position. Employee #1 opened the cap to…...
At approximately 2:30 p.m. on March 2, 2011, six workers were employed as milling or planing machine operators at a corn and flour milling facility in Lincoln, NE. A chlorine leak was detected in the chlorine room, so the milling superintendent and a miller/operator entered the chlorine storage room and closed a manual valve on…...
This is a lesson in why “Unloading” any hazardous material is such a high-risk task. In this incident, the facility had their connections locked (but the driver was told the combination), they were using the driver’s procedure, the connections were properly labeled, the driver could not see the tank he was pumping to, the company…...
At approximately 5:00 a.m. on February 8, 2014, Employee #1, a K2 Pure Solutions operator, was depressurizing a line that contained chlorine gas. Two attempts were made to depressurize the line. The first attempt resulted in a small chlorine release and employees having to evacuate to shelter and the second attempt resulted in the employee…...
PRESSURE TEST, then LEAK TEST piping BEFORE the introduction of the Hazardous Material! At 8:30 p.m. on May 11, 2017, two employees had been welding a pipe assembly and installed it on a chlorine tank. Employee #1 opened a valve to transfer the liquid chlorine from a supply tank into the weigh tank. A flanged…...
At 9:15 a.m. on June 17, 2017, an employee was conducting routine daily checks on Well Number 1 and Well Number 2 chlorine cylinders and noticed that they needed to be changed out for full chlorine cylinders. The employee noticed the regulator was feeding chlorine gas without the pumps running and noted that there was…...
Respondent owned and operated a facility that stored and used sulfur dioxide, a “regulated substance” under 40 C.F.R. ยง 68.3, at the facility when it brined cherries. At all times relevant to this CAFO, Respondent’s brining process contained more than the threshold quantity (5,000 pounds) of sulfur dioxide. Respondent’s brining process did not meet the…...
OSHA has cited a meat packing company for exposing workers to releases of hazardous chemicals. The company faces $615,640 in penalties. OSHA determined that the meat-packing facility failed to implement a required Process Safety Management (PSM) program for operating an ammonia refrigeration unit containing over 10,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia. The employer also failed to…...
