My Management of Change (MOC) presentation today at the BWC Ohio Safety Congress. Click Here to download the pdf. Many thanks to the BWC (a “Partner in Safety” with SAFTENG for the past 7 years) for asking me to speak on Process Safety.
Greetings Everyone: A few months ago, I wrote to tell you about the EPA’s desire to re-establish public internet access for certain categories of information collected by the Risk Management Plan (RMP) Program. In that note, I wrote of the Agency’s intent (in the absence of negative feedback) to post this information online by July
This note presents the results of a review of ammonia incidents reported to Health & Safety Executive (HSE) over the period 1992-1998. It also provides details of the main sources of guidance on the storage, handling and use of ammonia. Ammonia is used in the manufacture of fertilisers, nitric acid and many other products. It
This note presents the results of a review of chlorine incidents reported to HSE over the period 1992-1998. It also provides details of the main sources of guidance on the storage, handling and use of chlorine. Chlorine and chlorine-based derivatives are reactive materials which are used in the chemical manufacture of a wide range of
In recent years we have been seeing an increasing trend for facilities to relocate equipment to their rooftops. We suspect this is being done for two primary reasons: 1) it is free real estate and 2) it gets sensitive equipment away from forklifts, scissor lifts, manlifts, and other motorized equipment. Either reason we support; however,
I have touched on this topic in some of my other writings and have received many e-mails inquiring about my statements. First let me state that this impacts ALL industries, but it appears it has struck a nerve in the NH3 refrigeration industry, so my response will be specific to this industry since 100% of
It is becoming more common to find facilities using or at least “experimenting” with some “car seal” program or, as some call it, the “Lock Open – Lock Closed” program. These are the programs where a valve has been identified as a safety critical valve and needs to either stay closed or open until certain
The GUIDANCE ON INVESTIGATING AND ANALYZING HUMAN AND ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS ASPECTS OF INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS is a report published by ENERGY INSTITUTE, LONDON. Simply attributing incidents/accidents to human error is not adequate; human factors aspects should be investigated such that lessons are learned to prevent recurrence. Each incident or accident is a learning opportunity, but one that can
On June 20, 2009, an ammonia line ruptured during maintenance at a poultry processing plant in Robeson County, N.C., killing one employee and injuring several others. This accident should remind employers of the hazards associated with the use of anhydrous ammonia as a refrigerant at food processing plants. Click Here (.pdf) to see and print this 2-page
We have come long ways with our SOPs over the past 20 years! But we still struggle with annual certifications of these SOPs. If anyone is a non-believer in what I am going to share with you in this article I encourage them to just randomly grab any SOP from your system and walk it
Below are the set of questions that will be asked during a VPP Assessment at PSM covered facilities. In my opinion, these are the same questions that should be asked at ALL PSM facilities! These questions are being provided so that we can ask these questions, whether we want to be a VPP site
