In fire experiments conducted in uniformly furnished, but vacant Chicago-area townhouses, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers uncovered temperature and heat-flow conditions that can seriously damage facepiece lenses on standard firefighter breathing equipment, a potential contributing factor for first-responder fatalities and injuries.
Two important field experiments involving releases of pressurized liquefied chlorine have taken place in the last three years – The Wild Stallions (WS) and the Jack Rabbit (JR) experiments. The one and two ton chlorine releases took place near the ground at Dugway Proving Ground, with. However, because of the differing source release configurations and
A GREAT presentation by David F. Brown, ANL, Lemont, IL! Click Read More link below for the presentation.
The propane rail car fire in CA has caught my attention. In reviewing video footage from the scene, I was surprised to see a $1,000,000 engine sitting in close proximity to a burning rail car. I tend to stay out of these things until I am called to get involved, but this one is odd.
A facility should develop an emergency response plan that SPECIFICALLY addresses release scenarios developed from their PHAs and historical accident information. The potential releases identified in the PHAs should be used in preparing the emergency response pre-plans. Planning and preparation should include:
Paragraph (q) of HAZWOPER lists seven emergency responder categories, which include the following five principal training levels under (q)(6): first responder awareness level, first responder operations level, HAZMAT technician, HAZMAT specialist, and on-scene incident commander. The remaining two categories include skilled support personnel (q)(4) and specialist employees (q)(5). Employees responding to emergencies at different levels
Last week I wrote about taking 10 minutes and calling your local fire department to review your response needs. Last night’s incident alerts had an incident that demonstrates EXACTLY what can happen when “Pre-Planning” is not done or done poorly!
In this economy, we should take 10 minutes and call our local Fire Department (FD) and discuss any changes that have been made that could impact our business. FACT: All fire departments have been forced to make cuts in recent years; some more than others, but all have had to cut their budgets. The first
This week I had the pleasure of conducting an Incident Command course and in my 1-Day IC Basics course I like to challenge the students to put themselves into scenarios and to think through what needs to be done, who will be doing it, if they have been trained, if they have adequate back-up’s, etc.
Online training program will target emergency response to anhydrous ammonia incidents.
Next to preventing accidents, my second love is an efficiently and safe run HAZMAT incident! Although I am no longer allowed to wear LEVEL A’s anymore (Boss thinks I do not need to engage in this level risk!!!) I still do a lot of responses each year as a HAZMAT Specialist and man do I
