Liquid storage areas where dispensing is conducted must have either a gravity ventilation system or a continuous mechanical exhaust ventilation system. If the dispensing involves Class I liquids (e.g. Category 1 & 2 liquids per OSHA terminology) mechanical ventilation is the ONLY acceptable option. Regardless of the type used there are some FUNDAMENTAL requirements that […]
For the 2021 edition of NFPA 30, the committee introduced a sweeping change in the classification scheme for liquids. The term ignitible liquid has been introduced to initiate a process whereby the terms flammable liquid and combustible liquid are no longer used. This causes the requirements in NFPA 30 and other codes and standards to
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the explosion aboard the barge IB1940was the company’s incomplete procedures that did not incorporate the safety instructions included in the Facility Operations Manual regarding the electrical bonding of air movers to barges, resulting in an unbonded air mover being operated in a cargo tank
WELDING on USED drums! At 12:00 p.m. on November 5, 2019, Employee #1 was making a small spot weld on a piece of metal. He was performing the weld on a drum of that contained flammable windshield washer fluid. There was an explosive reaction, and the cover of drum hit the employee’s face. Liquid splashed
Back in my HAZMAT days, we did a lot of transfers from damaged containers to proper containers to mitigate the release of hazardous materials. When the HAZMAT was a flammable liquid, we oftentimes had to construct our own grounding grid. This was more than not a massive challenge for us as we did this all
Many large scale processes that use Cat 1, 2, and 3 flammable liquids may also rely on a Nitrogen purge system to ensure the space within the process vessel is BELOW the Limiting Oxidizer Concentration (LOC) – sometimes called the Minimum Oxygen Concentration (MOC). This safety system is based on the simple fact that if
Many of us use Safety Data Sheets (SDS) on a regular basis and most of us have come to the realization that these documents fall far short of providing us the safety information we really need. For example, when working with flammable liquids do you trust the SDS data to provide an accurate Flash Point
Bonding and grounding is a critical safety function when transferring flammable liquids. But for the ground to function properly, how good must it be or in technical terms, how much resistance to ground is acceptable in the design of the safety system?
NOT only was this worker welding, but he/she had also used a flammable liquid to clean the spot they wanted to weld and then kept the OPEN bucket of flammable liquid right at the point of work. When they struck the arc, the vapors in the bucket ignited and the worker kicked the bucket of
At 5:48 a.m. on November 5, 2019, an employee was working for a trucking firm that hauled refined fuel products. He was pumping fuel from a portable tank back into his tanker truck by top-loading (e.g. SPLASH FILLING). The fuel involved was a mixture of gasoline and diesel fuel (both NON-conductive flammable liquids). The employee
In recent years, offshore operators on the Outer Continental Shelf have reported multiple flash-fire incidents that resulted in injuries and damage to facilities. Investigations found that static discharge was a contributing factor in each of the incidents. Flash-fire incidents occurred during multiple types of operations, including maintenance on a control panel when natural gas was
Have you seen this yet? If not, you most likely will either via your social media activity or by e-mail. This week this picture and various stories about what happened have gone “viral” after a Wisconsin Fire District posted it on their FB Account as an attempt to educate their followers. The “shares” are over
