With OSHA’s Process Safety Management standard coming up on its 27th birthday, we are seeing companies still grappling with managing their Hazardous Locations (HAZLOC). When the process involves a flammable liquid or gas, it is still fairly common to find a HAZLOC containing permanently installed equipment that is not rated for the HAZLOC. And by […]
The act of draining/venting a highly hazardous chemical (HHC)/extremely hazardous substance (EHS) from a process can be one of the most hazardous tasks a worker can undertake, but there are some easy and cheap actions/designs we can consider to reduce these hazards. Some of the best guidance I have come across is the IIAR’s “Oil
Recently I had the pleasure of working with a client on a PHA project during which we came across another excellent example of how “start-up’s” can be very different from the “normal start-up” procedure. I like to bring these examples to our attention as we still hear this all the time… “our initial start-up/normal start-up/start-up
The decision by the OSHRC settles several KEY PSM application debates. The accident involved a boiler that provided steam to a covered process and the boiler also used fuel from the refinery process(s) so OSHA took the position the boiler was part of the “covered process” because it was both interconnected and co-located such that
After unscheduled maintenance to drain oil from the pumps, the refrigeration system was noted to be slow to return to performance and oil contamination of some system evaporators was suspected. The responding refrigeration mechanic stated he attempted to improve system performance by closing valves to generate pressure within an evaporator to move or dislodge potentially
As barriers or safety systems can fail, it is essential to design them well and understand their reliability, which is expressed in an SIL rating. The Safety Integrity Level relates to the Probability of Failure on Demand (PFD). We use complete orders of 10 to describe the reduction factor:
At 4:30 p.m. on March 15, 2018, an employee was performing a pressure test on a pump. Sulfuric acid of 93% concentration splashed on the employee. The employee sustained second-degree chemical burns to the left thigh and third-degree burns to right thigh.
WorkSafeBC launched a three (3) phase ammonia inspection initiative after three (3) workers died in an ammonia leak at an ice skating rink in October 2017. Working with Technical Safety BC, WorkSafeBC inspected 228 ice rinks, curling rinks, and recreational rinks during phase one of the initiative. Of those, 181 used ammonia-based refrigeration systems and 1,108 orders
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
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
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 –
