Emergency Response

What’s changed in CAMEOfm 3.4.1 and Tier2 Submit 2017 “rev 2”?   In November, the CAMEOfm 3.4 and Tier2 Submit 2017 program releases included new physical and health hazard categories to match the revised Safety Data Sheet (SDS) options described in OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard of 2012.  Newer versions of those programs are now available with…...

For those who deal with emergency planning and response know all too well about EPCRA’s Tier Sheets, most notably Tier II sheets that facilities submit annually so as to inform the emergency response community of their hazardous materials and extremely hazardous substances on site.  These Tier sheets have been around since 1986 and are still a…...

What’s changed in MARPLOT 5.1.1? Made improvements to the auto-upgrade process to resolve rare issues some users experienced when upgrading to 5.1 Modified new layer creation process so that layers default to Individual Graphics Mode Updated U.S. Boundaries layers to 2017 data Enhanced threat zone information display in ALOHA popup notes Made improvements to the…...

OSHA has cited a power plant and it’s security services provider, for $43,458 in total proposed penalties, following a release of anhydrous ammonia at its Gibsonton facility.  On May 23, 2017, OSHA responded to the incident and determined that the ammonia release occurred when a relief valve activated after a pipeline became over pressurized. As a…...

There has been a lot of discussions these past several years about having an “in-house emergency response team” vs. relying on “external response services” (e.g. local FD or contracted services on a case-by-case basis).  There is NO one right or wrong answer and each facility and its hazards and needs are all quite different.  This week…...

Not a question we must know the answer to in order to be safe, but one that an old emergency responder ponders and now we know… The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) defines an immediately dangerous to life or health condition as a situation “that poses a threat of exposure to airborne…...

This year’s active hurricane and fire seasons highlight the importance of working together before, during, and after disasters of all types and sizes. The National Incident Management System (NIMS) provides a standard, nationwide approach to enable the whole community to work together to manage all threats and hazards.  FEMA has released the refreshed NIMS to…...

As almost everyone has felt the financial squeeze at some point during their career and we seem to be feeling it more and more these days. As auditors that travel the world, we are still seeing the negative ripple effects of the 2009/2010 recession in the United States in 2017 and probably will continue to…...

What’s changed in MARPLOT 5.1?… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...

Once again I turn to the professionals up North to provide us with some great information.  Transport Canada has once again done an excellent job explaining the difference between a Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion (BLEVE) and a Heat-Induced Tear (HIT) type explosion.  So often when we see the large fireball, we will call the…...

This video is interesting on many levels and since it occurred outside of the USA I am not sure about any regulatory issues in the home country, but if this were in the USA we can see a number of issues.  However, this video shows us the conditions under which we might respond to an ammonia…...