Chemical Process Safety (PSM/RMP)

Incident Overview 738 lbs of Cl2 released from T-103, the Nash compressor seals, and leaking gasket on the suction piping at the Nash compressor.   Event Time line:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Pruitt took action today to reconsider the “Accidental Release Prevention Requirements: ‘Risk Management Programs Under the Clean Air’” (“RMP Rule”) and signed an administrative stay to DELAY the effective date of the rule regarding chemical accident preparedness and prevention, until June 19, 2017.  The 90-day extension will allow time

A chemical plant where chlorine is manufactured suffered a Vertical Pressure Vessel BLEVE, at least from video footage it appears to be a BLEVE.  It involved a vertical tank, as can been seen in this video, as well as a flammable Liquified Pressurized Gas, as evident when the vessel lands.  Hopefully, we will learn more in the

The 2015 International Mechanical Code (IMC), Chapter 3 – General Regulations lays out the baseline requirements for all piping systems, including hydronic, refrigerant, condensate, fuel oil.  The Chapter, and more specifically Sections 301 and 305, covers how the pipe manufacturer must identify the pipe (e.g. this is the label we use in our QA efforts to

So in the last month, I have heard four politicians lay claim that EPA’s amended Risk Management Plan rule will actually make “us all” much less safe because of the “public access” part of the amendments. So let’s see what all the fuss is about and what is scheduled to start on March 21st.  I

Question: At my facility, if the worst-case release scenarios for regulated toxic substances and the worst-case scenario for regulated flammable substances involve the same process, must I analyze both?

Here are some “official” accident facts from OSHA regarding fatal accidents involving Anhydrous Ammonia (all but 1 of the accidents involves Anhydrous NH3).  These incidents can be found in OSHA’s Accident Database, but all the accident info is provided below.  I have scrubbed company names from this posting, as this is meant to be a

#1 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

If you’ve ever driven on an industrial plant site you most likely have noticed the speed limits on these sites is rather low, say 10 mph.  However, some sites we have visited we have seen speed limits up in the 20 mph range.  Now if there is no critical infrastructure in the area, we just

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