Chemical Process Safety (PSM/RMP)

Sweating the “small stuff” matters in process safety management.  Meeting the details of our chosen RAGAGEPs matters!  Although I am often told, “That is a picky audit finding,” it is what it is.  Far too many facilities believe that designing their process piping to be bolted flange assembly vs. welded joints is somehow easier; in…...

We have discussed the critical role of “torque” in constructing our chemical processes.  I catch a lot of flack for my insistence on this critical function, for which I am genuinely surprised.  But our piping design and construction RAGAGEP (ASME B31.3) is pretty clear on the matter, and now OSHA and EPA have “caught on”…...

Another pressuring test “gone bad”.  I want to remind anyone who wonders how to DEFINE and QUANTIFY a “safe distance” when piping is being pressure tested, especially when that test is a “pneumatic” test.  ASME PCC-2–2022, Repair of Pressure Equipment and Piping, Mandatory Appendix, 501-III, Safe Distance Calculations for Pneumatic Pressure Test is an EXCELLENT resource to…...

On August 27, 2016, at about 8:26 a.m., a railroad tank car sustained a 42-inch long crack in its tank shell shortly after being loaded with 178,400 pounds of liquefied compressed chlorine at the Axiall Corporation Natrium plant in New Martinsville, West Virginia. Over the next 2.5 hours, the entire 178,400-pound chlorine load was released,…...

I think most businesses are familiar with “backup power” sources, from battery packs on exit signs and egress lighting to UPSs on servers for their IT needs. But for facilities that store, handle, and process hazardous materials AND with safety systems associated with the storage, handling, and processing of those HAZMATs, there are some additional…...

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Several major revisions have been made to the 2024 edition of NFPA 58, Liquefied Petroleum Gas Code…. Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...

The 2024 edition includes a revision to change written hot work permits to documented hot work permits to address the use of new digital platforms used to issue permits.  The biggest change is… A requirement has also been added to allow the duration of the fire watch to be reduced to no less than 30…...

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The Hot Work Permit element of both OSHA’s PSM standard and EPA’s Risk Management Plan is one of the shortest elements’ of the 14 elements.  Its presence is to require a written permit to be issued when performing Hot Work in/on/adjacent to a covered process.  Some may not fully understand the need for this element,…...