Way too many have a serious lack of respect for the hazards a “Fire Watch” may face. I say this, because in my years of experience, I almost always find the “fire watch” role is assigned to the youngest, least experienced, and lowest paid person on the job. In many situations, these workers are NOT […]
At about 2:45 a.m. on March 13, 2001, Employee #1 and Employee #2, two operators, and Employee #3, a maintenance mechanic, were assigned the task of cleaning out a waste vessel, KD 502A. The three employees were removing the flange to the pot, and had removed several of the 44 bolts holding the flange, when
At 1:30 a.m. on December 6, 2024, a truck driver, 53, was unloading 40,000 pounds of salt from a dry bulk pneumatic trailer into salt brine tanks. The driver attached the truck’s power take-off to pressurize the trailer and connected the unloading hose to Salt Brine Tank #1. While standing near the pressure gauges on
Do you see it? The safety system. It’s right there in front of your eyes. This is a PSM-covered process involving flammable liquids. And what we are seeing is an air line made of plastic. This is intended to melt in a fire scenario, which would release the air, and the Fail-Safe-CLOSED valve will close.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) announced a settlement with an Electric Utility, resolving a violation of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the CSB’s 2020 Accidental Release Reporting rule. This is the first time EPA has taken an enforcement action and reached a settlement with
Natural Gas is a hazardous material commonly found in nearly every structure in the USA. It is so abundant that many have lost respect for this highly flammable gas. I deal with NG nearly every month, either as a utility to appliances within a facility or as a “critical utility” to a PSM/RMP-covered process. Recently,
This is WHY we ALWAYS pressure test and then leak test welds on our Primary Containment Systems!
At 10:00 p.m. on October 10, 2024, an employee (33) and a coworker, both boilermakers for a facilities support service, were working on a 12-inch pipe to flip the blind. The pipe released hydrogen sulfide gas, exposing the crew. The employee died from poisoning from the hydrogen sulfide gas.
We have seen a significant decline in Process Safety over the past five years. It seems PSM was infected with COVID-19, and it has Long COVID-19 illness! In the past five years, we have battled facility management and corporate legal teams over one significant issue… Training personnel on the PSM/RMP Management of Change Program. All
A member of a team of workers dismantling subsea emergency shutdown valves (ESDV) on deck was badly injured when hit by parts of a valve that were ejected with force. The team had successfully and without any problems already dismantled three (3) valves / ESDV as per the plans for that night. As the last
This fatal incident is another example of workers unknowingly understanding “torque values” when putting the primary containment system into service.
