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OSHA LOTO and PRCS citations @ railroad ties manufacturer ($120K)

OSHA has cited a manufacturer of railroad ties, with 16 safety violations, including one willful, following the crushing death of a worker who was caught in a machine.  The willful violation is failing to install guards to prevent access to the rotating and moving parts of a pre-plate boring machine used to drill holes into…...

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A look at EPA’s Ammonia Refrigeration General Duty Clause (GDC) Pilot Project

SAFTENG members can get an update to EPA’s Ammonia Refrigeration General Duty Clause (GDC) Pilot Project from Janet Bowen, EPA Region 1, presentation.  This program is slated to end on September, but ammonia refrigeration was chosen as one of the priority sectors for this GDC enforcement pilot.  Mrs. Bown provides us with nice updates on this pilot program and the problems…...

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FREE Electrical Hazard Recognition and Abatement Training (OH BWC)

April 15-18 (18 is ½ day, ends at 12:30 pm) Columbus (Pickerington), OH The focus of this course is hazard recognition rather than design or engineering. Participants are not required to have a background in electricity. Trainer- Michael Kovacic, ES Squared Inc The class is open to anyone, but here’s the kicker… the class is…...

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One of these cylinders is not like the others

One of these cylinders is not like the others, One of these cylinders doesn’t belong, Can you tell which cylinder is not like the others By the time I finish my song?…… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...

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EPA RMP citations @ food plant (NH3 & $18K w/ $68K SEP)

Respondent operates a “stationary source” and has registered an RMPlan with the EPA for its stationary source and has developed an RMProgram accidental release prevention program for the stationary source. Respondent operates an ammonia refrigeration process that has 13,000 pounds of ammonia in onsite storage. Respondent has one RMProgram level 3 covered process. On March…...

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NFPA 350 is open for public input with a closing date of January 9, 2020

Select the link “Submit a Public Input” to review the document and make any suggested revisions. You will be asked to sign-in or create a free online account with NFPA before using this system. If you have any questions when using the system, a chat feature is available, or contact us by email at [email protected]…...

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Verification of Energy Isolation Device effectiveness is CRITICAL (CCPS Process Safety Beacon)

This month’s CCPS Process Safety BEACON is about energy isolation practices in chemical process units and although I personally think they missed the mark on this one, it is a PERFECT EXAMPLE as to why many businesses involved with processing Highly Hazardous Chemicals/Extremely Hazardous Substances do NOT allow for “single valve isolation”, especially when there is NO…...

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WRONG CHEMICAL – WRONG TANK (sodium hypochlorite and ferric chloride)

Last week we saw a HAZMAT incident where over 50 workers were transported to medical facilities after ferric sulfate and sodium hypochlorite (bleach) were mixed together.  From recent press updates, what happened on Wednesday (2/27/19) sure does sound like a truck carrying one of these chemicals was unloaded into a tank of the other chemical.  The details…...

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Why its important to establish process battery limits to control external hazards to the process

This incident is a tad dated (2016) but it is a perfect example of how a contractor doing work “adjacent” to a covered process can impact that process.  It is also a great opportunity to discuss how to establish the process “battery limits”.  I like to call this my “force field” around my process –…...

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EPA RMP citations @ winery (NH3 & $57K w/ a $350K SEP)

Respondent owns and operates the winery facility that crushes grapes to produce wine, distilled spirits and juice for concentrate at its Facility. These products are stored prior to shipment to other facilities for further packaging and distribution. In September and November 2015, EPA performed inspections of the Facility pursuant to Section 112(r) of the, CAA,…...

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RMP Trends Analysis (NC DEQ)

I recently came across some interesting RMP data from the state of North Carolina (NC), one (1) of the nine (9) states granted delegation of EPA’s authority to implement and enforce the risk management program rule.  It is only a very small percentage of RMP covered facilities, but these data and trends may be the…...

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Pressure Testing Hazards are serious and need written procedures

As we have discussed here many many times, pressure testing of our primary containment systems for our hazardous materials is an absolute necessity to ensure the integrity of our construction/installation and/or alteration/repair.  But these tests come with some serious risks, EVEN HYDROSTATIC TESTING is a very hazardous activity.  And as shown in the OSHA investigation…...

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