I have been writing a lot about the hazards of using N2 and CO2 in occupied spaces without adequate safeguards. This fatal accident occurred inside what many will call an “instrument shack” within a chemical process. This room had a gas chromatograph machine that was NOT intrinsically safe, so it was within a “pressureized enclosure”…...
Hazmat crews respond to propane tank leak in Suffolk Talk to anyone who deals with LPG, and they will tell you that we normally see an increase in leaking tanks this time of year. However, I believe we are seeing an increase in these events year after year. One speculation is that delivery businesses are…...
Nitrogen (N2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are becoming very popular in food plants for a whole host of reasons. A number of years ago, we lost six workers to an N2 event at a food plant in GA. A look at OSHA data from 2020 to the present shows incidents involving N2 (see below). But…...
Two companies have been fined after two pest control contractors, 34 and 49, died while carrying out pest control work at a chicken factory on October 4, 2018. The men had entered an area full of concentrated nitrogen pumped from a chiller system. When the duo failed to return home from work the night before,…...
CO2 as solid particles can cause electrostatic discharge! In September 1953, an aircraft fuel storage farm was taken into use in Niederstedem, Germany. The automatic fire extinguishing system, which used CO2, was demonstrated to visitors on the roof of the storage tank. The tank containing an explosive mixture suddenly ignited and exploded. 29 people lost…...
I have updated (4/3/26) the presentation with the NFPA direction/requirements for using the Diamond on small containers. Yes, NFPA provides specific guidance on using the Diamond on containers smaller than 1 gallon. 4/3/26 – I added the explanation as to why Bulk HAZMAT containers (Tanker Trucks & Railcars) are exempt from OSHA’s “shipped containers” requirements…...
DISCLAIMER: I am NOT suggesting we do this; just asking the group for their thoughts on a challenge I got this week. In all the discussions about using NFPA 704 Diamonds on Secondary Containers, from laboratory squirt bottles to bulk storage tanks, today I was asked if DOT Placards could be used to label STATIONARY…...
I guess we are never too old to learn new tricks! This week, I came across a practice that I was 100% certain I was being “punked.” The practice is called “welding,” but it’s done on a Polyethylene Plastic tank! Technically, it meets the definition of “welding”… Welding is a fabrication process that joins materials—typically…...
Too many safety personnel are not sufficiently familiar with the critical role Vapor Pressure (VP) plays in managing hazardous materials. From our PPE Hazard Assessments, Respiratory Protection, to how we respond to these hazardous materials when there is a LOPC event involving them. But VP also plays a major role in how we DESIGN our…...
Over the past decade, we have received dozens of requests from both current and new clients seeking to move to 19% Aqua Ammonia, so the process is NO LONGER RMP-covered. (NOTE: OSHA only covers 44% or higher Aqua Ammonia; EPA begins its coverage at 20%). This is taking the “inherently safe” approach to process safety…....
HIGHLY TOXIC – A material which produces a lethal dose or lethal concentration that falls within any of the following categories:A chemical that has a median lethal dose (LD50) of 50 milligrams or less per kilogram of body weight when administered orally to albino rats weighing between 200 and 300 grams each.A chemical that has…...
Some clients have their processes/storage in the middle of a neighborhood, and I mean in the middle of a neighborhood, as we see on TV and postcards. Beautiful tree-lined streets with kids riding their bikes and moms pushing their baby strollers. Of course, the facility came first, in the 1950’s, and then the encroachment. As…...
