A worker was exposed to NH3 while working next to a live refrigeration unit. The worker was working from an elevating work platform (EWP) to install a partition wall in a large refrigerated space. The EWP was in close proximity to a chiller unit that was operating during the work. The EWP knocked a valve […]
Today, the CSB released its final report addressing three (3) serious chemical incidents involving toxic hydrogen fluoride (HF) at a facility in Geismar, Louisiana. The incidents occurred over a period of less than three years, from October 2021 to June 2024, and reveal systemic safety failures at the facility. These incidents were LOPC events, two
Process safety management (PSM) is a suite of risk management elements designed to minimize the risk of accidents associated with industrial processes using highly hazardous materials. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) PSM regulation requires that process equipment and equipment inspection and testing adhere to recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices
The current list of delegated states and counties is: Additionally, the following territories and local jurisdictions have delegation: Kentucky, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands NO LONGER implement the program and the Regional office has taken over implementation for those areas. Florida has a partial delegation (everything but propane facilities) North Dakota has a partial
I am sharing this incident as we continue to find air receivers that are 20+ years old and have never once been inspected as a pressure vessel. We even see this in PSM/RMP-covered facilities – the facility does a nice job on their process pressure vessels, but overlooks their air receivers. Air receivers have a
I wish OSHA would provide more details on this facility, but this is all we got… At 10:00 p.m. on October 10, 2024, an employee (33) and a coworker working as 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
I have scrubbed the names of the accused and deceased worker, as this could happen at just about any facility where hazardous materials are present. I should also state, the lawyers are suing the Refinery, the deceased employer (a contractor firm hired by the refinery), the manufacturer of the H2S monitor, the parent company of
In August 2024, while loading anhydrous ammonia into a railcar at a manufacturing site, a shear coupling on the loadout arm failed to function. Two out of three bolts failed, causing the coupling to open and resulting in a loss of primary containment (LOPC) of pressurized liquefied ammonia, which formed an ammonia vapor cloud. A
All alcohols are NOT created equal! Alcohols may be flammable, but there is one alcohol whose flammability is NOT its primary hazard. Most know about ETHANOL. It is used in fuels, as well as in food and drinks. It is flammable, and its flammability is its PRIMARY HAZARD. But its sister, METHANOL, is VERY DIFFERENT.
A CSB safety video on its investigation into the fatal December 8, 2020, explosion at the Optima Belle chemical facility in Belle, West Virginia.
At 12:30 p.m. on February 7, 2022, an employee, 45, was disconnecting the discharge line of a 4-inch mobile water pump. The discharge line was blocked with ice, and the running pump was deadheaded, leading to a buildup of heat and pressure in the discharge line after the check valve.
As we have discussed here for years, “flanged joints” are usually MORE difficult to manage than are welded connections. However, somehow the rumor got started that flanged connections can be done by “Billy Joe Jim Bob.” Nothing could be further from the truth! And guess which connections most often leak? Yep, flanged connections. There are
