In July 2007, a fan in the rear freezer room of a meat works factory in Victoria dislodged and fell. The fan dislodged a pipeline supplying liquid ammonia to an evaporator unit in the property’s refrigeration plant, causing 2000 litres (~530 gallons) of liquid ammonia to spill onto the freezer floor. The ammonia quickly spread […]
An EXCELLENT source of info for emergency responder responding to an Ammonia release. The ASTDR document provides decon advice, as well as means to protect EMS personnel treating any personnel exposed to the chemical. Click Here to download the document.
PLEASE NOTE that the image is the cover of the 2012 edition, which is NOT YET available; however, the 2012 guidebook will fundamentally be the same book as the 2008 version, so the free training video is STILL VALID. Click Here for the video from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
The term “Shelter-in-Place” (SIP) is becoming more and more popular in emergency response plans and although it is a VITAL part of many response plans, doing it PROPERLY may NOT be as easy as it sounds. In this article, I hope to explain what is required when we claim “shelter-in-Place” as a method to manage
This is NOT an April Fool’s joke, but a fact. It is not a well known requirement, but we have seen OSHA use this from time to time when teams have been disbanded – me being one of those they used to make an example of. But 1910.120(q)(9) refers us back to 1910.120(f) in regards
What has changed in the definition of an IDLH atmosphere? NIOSH has removed the mention of the 30 minute time period, based on intraspecies variation factors. There is no mention of the 30-minutes in the new definition. A little history about the IDLH designation… The concept of using respirators to protect workers in situations that
An innovative self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) that will allow First Responders more mobility and less fatigue while responding to emergencies, as well as increasing accessibility to confined spaces. The SCBA will be compatible with current systems. Benefits to First Responder: Reduction of cylinder weight (7.48 pounds) Reduction of profile (1.95 inches) That’s right ONLY 1.95″ Increased
This new tool was designed for oil spill responders, but should be useful to many others. The NOAA Unit Converter for Oil Spills (NUCOS) is a simple desktop tool that converts basic units of velocity, mass, length, etc., but more specifically, converts units that are unique to oil spill response. NUCOS includes some of the lesser
Ethanol, what is the worry? On May 14, 2007, a tanker carrying 8,000 gallons of ethanol overturned and burst into flames on an interstate in Baltimore, Maryland, killing the driver and sending a burning stream of ethanol into the street below, igniting a row of parked vehicles. On October 22, 2006, an eighty-six-car train carrying
In the USA, OSHA REQUIRES employers to “Fit Test” each worker who will wear a tight-fitting respirator. This includes all types of tight-fitting respirators, from half-face air purifying respirators to full-face supplied air respirators. The workers are also REQUIRED to be fit tested with EACH MAKE, MODEL STYLE and SIZE face piece they are medically qualified and
It is pretty common for PSM/RMP facilities to have a windsock or two on-site. However, the condition of these devices ranges from brand new to a piece of wire sticking up in the wind. In this posting, I want to offer some tips on how we should manage our windsocks as a “piece of critical
