Each employer must address actions that workers will take when there is an unwanted release of highly hazardous chemicals. Employers will need to decide: if they want workers to handle and stop small or minor incidental releases; whether they wish to mobilize the available resources at the plant and have them brought to bear on […]
I have referenced these writers before when discussing process safety and once again they communicated the message better than I could regarding how we should analyze “process alarms” when we claim them to be a layer of protection. We should only accept alarms that have been established using a RAGAGEP in their design (audible, visual,
There are new details regarding the March fire at a Memphis, TN refinery that killed one contract worker and injured two others. TOSHA has completed its investigation and the refinery was hit with a proposed $63,000 in fines for 16, serious, alleged violations. TOSHA listed the potential cause as “failure to isolate and control ignition
I have referenced this newsletter many time and have linked to it many times, but never officially posted it as a resource for process safety folks. It is FREE and published by EPA Region 10 every other month. Like this posting on relief system design basis, there is literally tons of material that can be
AMMONIA FATALITY (a worker at a winery has died after being exposed to ammonia – one of the workers accidentally opened a wrong valve and released ammonia into a confined area – the man was one of six workers exposed – the other workers tried to rescue the man but were unable to get to
This is an excellent presentation showing what is believed to have happened leading up to and after the Amuay Refinery Vapor Cloud Explosion on 8/25/12. Excellent modeling, but based on assumption, showing how a vapor cloud progresses. To date, the loss of life now exceeds 50 with many more severly burned. The off-site devistation was
UPDATED 9/11/12 with CCTV video footage showing the steam release, followed by the flash fire, followed by te dark smoke.
NH3 gas is COLORLESS! Check out the SDS or any data source if you think I’m kidding. What we are seeing in that “white smoke” or “cloud” is moisture in the air (i.e., humidity) condensing on the very cold NH3 gas. So the question I often get is: How much NH3 gas is needed to
A TX refinery has been cited for five (5) PSM violations. OSHA opened an inspection at the facility upon receiving a complaint that employees had been exposed to a leak of hydrofluoric acid at a flange in the alkylation unit while performing maintenance work. Proposed penalties total $66,500. Here is a breakdown…
OSHA has cited a fireworks manufacturer $116,900 for 25 serious and six other-than-serious safety violations after three workers suffered burns caused by an explosion at the company’s facility in March. The employees were transported to local hospitals, and two were treated for serious burns and released. The third employee, who suffered third-degree burns, was hospitalized
At 7:17 a.m., on August 22, 2003, an Amerigas Corporation (Amerigas) cargo tank semitrailer arrived at the AK Steel Corporation (AK Steel) facility in Middletown, Ohio. The driver pulled the vehicle up to the fill location and helped an AK Steel employee hook up to the fittings for a plant storage tank. According to the
