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
Bollards… they are more than sticks in the ground! In fact, there is an actual code design basis for bollards (i.e. posts). There are six (6) CRITICAL METRICS for bollards, of which five (5) we can see and one (when done properly) is invisible to those of us who inhabit the surface of the earth. So what can we see
On October 4, 2005, Employee #1 was working as a refrigeration mechanic. An ammonia system valve in freezer Number 7 was being turned, when the bonnet came loose with the wheel, releasing approximately 100 to 200 lbs of ammonia. Employee #1 was 35 feet up without fall protection, and he had to slide down racking
As I have written about numerous times… PRESSURE TESTING a process is not only a “good idea” – it is REQUIRED for those of us in the process safety world. It is a critical path in process safety, ensuring our “primary containment” system (e.g. piping) was installed properly and can withstand process pressures. But with
On May 31, 2012, Employees #1 through #6 were working when an evaporator that had been deactivated was mistakenly activated by a worker. Approximately 68.5 pounds (31 kilograms) of ammonia were released on an overhead catwalk. Employees #1 through #6 inhaled the fumes, and they were transported to a hospital. Employee #1 was not hospitalized,
At 4:00 p.m. on January 5, 2018, Employee #1, employed by an industrial cleaning company, was working at a multiemployer project. He was working from an 8-foot stepladder. He was 2 feet above the ground and monitoring and adding water as necessary to evaporator pans to prevent freezing. The float system on the evaporator failed,
Many thanks to Luke Dam, CEO of Safety Wise, for having some fun and making these SAFTENG videos. If you’re looking for a great incident investigation tool be sure to check out Luke’s company… they are worldwide and they make root cause analysis easy (something many struggle with).
ABSOLUTELY! One of my engineering managers early in my career was the founder of the “engineering geek squad” and was an absolute stickler for details when it came to technical matters. He always told me I was driving him to the insane asylum with my improper interchangeable use of the terms “vapor” and “gas” when
This morning, North of Chicago, a 2,000-gallon (8,750 pounds of NH3) nurse tank appears to have suffered a catastrophic failure releasing all 1,700 gallons/8,750 pounds of NH3 onto the road and ditches. The reason I wonder if this was in the realm of a “Worst Case Release Scenario” is that we had Temps in the
Once or twice a year I check on the top 10 or 20 RMP accident histories to find any interesting trends. I have been doing this for about 12 years and since starting them, Anhydrous Ammonia always finds it’s place as the top Toxic involved. There are some who want to believe that Anhydrous Ammonia
The business was convicted of one violation under the Environmental Protection Act and was fined $100,000 plus a victim fine surcharge of $25,000, with eight months to pay the fine. Background: The business operates a facility in the County of Lambton, which produces food grade carbon dioxide and is supplied with raw carbon dioxide from a
