A worker was preparing to mix chemicals in a large in-floor vat in order to make lacquer. After removing the bungs from a steel barrel of toluene, the worker lowered the barrel onto its side and placed it on the lip of the in-floor mixing vat. As the toluene was being poured into the vat, […]
With colder air upon us, our risks associated with static electricity around our flammable liquids and gases INCREASES. With increased risks we need to counteract this with more attention to detail in our layers of protection against flash fires. Minor oversights that we got away with in the heat of the humid summer days may
We hear a lot of safety professionals talking about bonding and grounding and this safety function is by far the most common means of controlling static electricity during the transfer of flammable liquids; however, it is also very often the cause of flash fires because facilities either do not fully understand or fail to manage
This paper reviews 242 accidents of storage tanks that occurred in industrial facilities over last 40 years. Fishbone Diagram is applied to analyze the causes that lead to accidents. Corrective actions are also provided to help operating engineers handling similar situations in the future. The results show that 74% of accidents occurred in petroleum
Today I exchanged e-mails with a longtime member of SAFTENG and the Fire Chief of the Waxahachie Fire Dept regarding the Magana Blend flammable liquids fire on October 3, 2011. The Chief is being very open and helpful in sharing as much information that he can at this time. He has given me permission to
I have written extensively on flammable liquids and the hazards they present to work environments; but there is one hazard associated with using plastic containers for flammable liquids that tends to be lost in all the attention that is focused on what is happening within the containers and not outside the container. In this article
Not meant to be a trick question, but as it turns out, it actually is! It depends on if your workplace is a “general industry” or “construction” worksite. Now stick with me as I explain the difference…
Polyethylene (e.g. plastics) containers and portable tanks (e.g. totes) have found their way into the flammable and combustible liquids market. Although many insurance companies take issue with their use, OSHA has had an official position on their use since 1984. Their compliance position is the following:
First I would like to say THANKS to XTO Energy for stepping up and sharing their lessons learned from thier incidents!! These days, this is very rare, but this presentation is just too good not to share with others. My only wish is that I had seen this before 1996, when I experienced my first
This article is overdue, as many businesses use these mobile tanks for almost anything on the planet! Unfortunately, these mobile storage tanks are NOT designed for everything on the planet. Without getting into materials of construction concerns and compatibility issues, I want to touch on my biggest concern: using these mobile tanks in some flammable
NFPA has released the 2012 edition of NFPA 30 – Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code. There are some changes in this new 2012 edition. They are intended to respond to newly identified risks:
