On May 20, 2017, at 11:30 a.m. Employee #1, a refrigeration technician, and a coworker were performing pump down of a live ammonia refrigeration line to make the pipe available for replacement. The two (2) employees had checked the line on the roof with a blower and thinking it was clear, went to the engine […]
This month Koch Agronomic Services (KAS) announced they have developed a “nitrification inhibitor” for their anhydrous ammonia (NH3) fertilizer that will significantly improve nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) to increase crop output while minimizing environmental losses. This is great news for all of us; however, for those at the facilities where this new grade of NH3 is being
Ontario’s Engineering Data Sheet 4-04: Anhydrous Ammonia is an excellent source of reliable safety information for the design of and practice of safely handling anhydrous ammonia. It is another example of how we can use information from other agencies around the world to better design, build, operate and maintain processes handling/storing/processing highly hazardous chemicals.
As this year comes to a close, I was reminded by a FaceBook post of a common misconception regarding 1910.119(f)(3), which is actually two (2) separate requirements/actions stated in a single paragraph of the standard. The standard states: 1910.119(f)(3) The operating procedures shall be reviewed as often as necessary to assure that they reflect current operating practice, including
As I have said before, one of EPA’s most cited RMP matters is the lack of “updating the RMP with emergency contact information within a month of the change“. But today, the EPA offered some insight for those who may not have an emergency contact assigned within the month of the change. For me, there are
The Ohio EPA RMP Group has posted a CHECKLIST FOR SIMPLE REVALIDATION (pdf) on their RMP Page of thier website. This 6-page checklist appears to be an excellent tool for “revalidating” your Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) every 5-years. You can download their pdf version HERE. SAFTENG members can download a different version by logging in and
The Safety Authority of British Columbia (BC) has released a case study of all refrigerant leaks in BC from 2007 to 2015. The study breaks down: Number of Refrigeration Units by Refrigerant and Safety Classification The Boilers, Pressure Vessels and Refrigeration (BPVR) Incident Investigations Refrigeration Incidents by Refrigerant Ammonia Releases by Facility Type Ammonia Releases
The state of Ohio updated it’s Mechanical Code as it applies to “Refrigeration” in November 2017. Here are the updates:
As of yesterday (12/15/2017), the state of Ohio has a new fire code, which just happens to be a revised version of the 2015 International Fire Code. As I have been writing about this year, this revised code could have an impact on a number of businesses/industries. For example, ammonia refrigeration processes that are built
2018 is just around the corner and with it’s arrival comes the 2018 International Fire Code (IFC) and some changes. For those in the process safety arena or just storing/handling/processing hazardous materials, Chapter 50 Hazardous Materials, is a valuable resource for the design of piping systems conveying those hazardous materials. In 2018 IFC there are some
This incident involved issues with LOTO and PPE with the line break/process opening. OSHA issued citations against 1910.111, .147, .134, and .1200. At 4:00 p.m. on March 13, 2017, in preparation of a new pump arriving, a worker started draining lines leading to a 30,000-gallon liquid anhydrous ammonia tank. After the tank had been drained,
An outside storage tank at a wastewater treatment chemical manufacturing plant exploded, killing the plant manager, 64, and former town commissioner. According to Police, he was working on a ladder operating an electrical tool of some sort on the tank. As we can see from the aerial footage, the tank appears to have been a fiber
