I get some interesting questions and see some very strange things in my work around the country, but this one seems to have grown legs in the world of “cost-cutting” in safety. “Let’s have our maintenance people do the ‘annual maintenance’ on our fire extinguishers”… um NO WAY! And this is just not a “Haywood…...
Apparently, they can and have. Here are some GDC citations for an NH3 refrigeration process. These were part of a large release inspection that included some HAZWOPER and HAZCOM citations. My only guess is that these GDC citations are tied directly to the NH3 release, but I have not yet seen the field notes, so…...
The 2027 edition of the standard includes new definitions for the terms battery energy storage system and lithium-based battery with associated annex material. Updates have been made in Section 6.2 to align with NFPA 1 regarding 1A and 1B flammable gases and to further clarify that Category 1B has a lower flammability than Category 1A…...
FMO Releases Preliminary Findings in Robbins Lumber Fire and Explosion Investigation FMO Investigators and ATF Special Agents worked throughout the Memorial Day weekend at the scene of the Robbins Lumber fire and explosion in Searsmont. During that time, personnel paused to honor Morrill Firefighter Andrew Cross and remember military members who made the ultimate sacrifice…...
The Fire Chief was talking about the phase change occurring inside the MMA tank. These are the critical temps for that to happen…. Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...
So I went back in time using Google Earth, and the last clear image was on June 1, 1994, and the three (3) tanks were present. Now, I have no idea if they were being used for MMA at that time. But the three (3) tanks were present, along with the larger tank next to…...
The simple answer is yes, we can use ACGIH TLVs or NIOSH RELs to calculate the Maximum Use Concentration (MUC), but with one ABSOLUTE regulatory caveat: The resulting limit must be more protective (stricter) than what the OSHA standard dictates, or be applied to a chemical that OSHA does not currently regulate. Under 1910.134(b), OSHA…...
For those curious, it will take around 27 pounds of Phenothiazine (PTZ) to successfully QUENCH the reaction, or, as some may call it, “short-stopping”. But these events usually occur in a “process vessel” that has an agitator. These tanks in CA do NOT appear to have agitators; however, they may be able to “mix” the…...
A lot of folks are angry that they have been forced from their homes, especially over a holiday weekend when families travel to visit families. I understand their anger, and I applaud the OCFA for their communication efforts to explain their decisions. So, for those of you who do not live and work in the…...
We keep hearing all these different temps from the media and OCFA. I am pretty sure they are both using Farenheit and Celsuis interchangably in their remarks and this can be confusing as heck. I just heard a media update state that “50 degrees is the happy place” for MMA. 50°F is the Flash Point…...
An uncontrolled polymerization event in a Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) storage tank is a classic, catastrophic thermal runaway scenario. When the monomer begins linking into polymer chains, the system enters a self-accelerating feedback loop that can rapidly overwhelm the vessel’s pressure-relief systems, leading to a violent rupture that often resembles a Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion…...
OSHA’s regional emphasis programs continue to prioritize the programmatic elements of 1910.134. Citations in 2026 are frequently tied to “paperwork and protocol” failures rather than hardware failures:… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...
