I asked Gemini Plus about the reaction of M200A (M200A, a proprietary amine-based solvent often associated with gas sweetening or industrial cleaning) and Nitric Acid, as has been reported in the media as the two (2) chemicals involved in yesterday’s tragic event in WV. It has been reported that H2S was involved; yet, reading this […]
I like to tell clients that NFPA has done what OSHA failed to do… make Combustible Dust a PSM-covered process. Well, not exactly, but NFPA 660 has certainly advanced how we manage the risks associated with Combustible Dusts. The new (2026) NFPA 660 has the following SMS elements:
Once again, auditing pays off! No way in heck, my audits should be the method to identify QA failures on a piping installation, but it seems the past 10 years or so, it’s happening more and more. This event was a significant failure on the General Contractor and the Sub-Contractor, who was doing the actual
Several reports released this week by safety authorities (including ABSA and the CSB) have highlighted “latent” welding failures in pressure systems: The recurring theme this week is the “Empty Tank” fallacy. As a safety professional, these incidents underscore that the most dangerous tanks are often the ones that are “empty” but not gas-free. For your
Equinor has completed its internal investigation into the workplace accident at Mongstad on 17 September 2025, in which a worker lost his life. The purpose has been to ensure learning and to identify measures that can strengthen safety in crane and lifting operations across the company. The accident occurred during the lifting of heat exchangers
Around 7:11 p.m. on the 16th, a pressure tank exploded during an inspection at a pressure tank manufacturing plant. The accident killed a worker in his 50s who was struck by flying pressure tank components and later died at a hospital despite being transported for treatment. He was reportedly inspecting a transformer pressure tank manufactured
The short answer is no. Radiographic Testing (RT) and pressure testing (Hydrostatic or Pneumatic) serve two (2) fundamentally different purposes in piping integrity. While it might seem like “over-testing,” they are not interchangeable in ASME B31.3 (Process Piping) or ASME B31.1 (Power Piping). Here is the breakdown of why 100% RT does not exempt you
My SDS list toluene’s lower explosive limit (LEL) as 1.2% by volume, often given as:
I was playing around with Google Gemini and wondered about its limitations and accuracy. One of the problems in my HAZMAT courses is showing just how small an amount of Cl2 it takes to achieve an IDLH concentration in a given space. So I asked it.. How many pounds of Chlorine Gas will it take
One of my most debated topics at SAFTENG is my writings/ramblings about the critical role that a Management of Change (MOC) plays in ALL of safety, not just PSM. I’ve been involved in numerous non-PSM/RMP accidents that can be traced to poor or non-existent change management. One fatal event last year involved simply moving a
Workers were weatherproofing the outer layer of a large ammonia storage tank when contractor-operated equipment struck a bleed pipe, causing an unplanned release of ammonia. Two (2) workers were exposed to ammonia, one worker suffering fatal injury and the other worker suffering minor injuries. NOTE: Another case of an EEBA not working because it was
A refinery has been fined more than $182,000 by WorkSafeBC after an incident that saw an employee’s clothing sprayed with hot oil. On Wednesday, April 8, WorkSafeBC put out a media release regarding the incident and a corresponding penalty of $182,282.38 levied against the refinery on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. A summary posted on the agency’s
