Emergency Response

EPA defines Responding and Non-Responding Facilities in its last RMP Fact Sheet

How do companies follow the emergency response element requirements? To comply with the regulations, a facility needs to develop an emergency program or procedures. These are often contained in one of two types of RMP emergency plans: one for responding facilities and one for non-responding facilities…. Membership Required You must be a member to access...

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EPA publishes a Fact Sheet: Risk Management Program Emergency Response Exercises

This fact sheet summarizes the exercise requirements of the Emergency Response portion of a facility’s Program. It provides guidance for how a facility can comply with existing regulations and what emergency responders can expect from a facility…. Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...

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OSHA has proposed $3.5M in fines for violations by 3 employers during a Houston facility chemical spill response

OSHA has proposed more than $3.5 million in fines against three (3) companies after federal inspectors determined they failed to protect workers during post-emergency response cleanup after a chemical spill at an industrial facility in Channelview. OSHA initiated three (3) inspections following a Dec. 27, 2025, sulfuric acid spill that resulted in multiple employee injuries…....

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Almost 50% of serious HAZMAT transportation incidents occur during loading and unloading operations

The transfer of hazardous materials from a cargo-tank motor vehicle to fixed-site storage poses a critical vulnerability in chemical handling. While high-speed highway collisions capture more attention, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) estimates that roughly 25% to 50% of serious HAZMAT transportation incidents actually occur during loading and unloading operations. These accidents…...

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Can anyone perform the “annual maintenance” on fire extinguishers?

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…...

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Can OSHA issue 5(a)(1) citations when a process is under its PSM TQ?

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…...

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NFPA updates its 704, Standard System for the Identification of the Hazards of Materials for Emergency Response

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…...

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Preliminary Findings in Robbins Lumber Fire and Explosion Investigation

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…...

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Explaining The “Solidification” Temperature Reality inside the MMA Tank in CA

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...

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I wondered when the MMA tanks were installed in Garden Grove, CA

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…...

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Can we use ACGIH TLVs/NIOSH RELs in the MUC formula rather than OSHA’s PELs?

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…...

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The challenges of QUENCHING an MMA Polymerization event

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…...

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