Hazardous Materials

Authorities: Napa man injured by flash fire while cleaning paper shredderA man was hospitalized Saturday morning with a burn injury suffered while cleaning a paper shredder, according to Napa Fire.  Firefighters were called to a west Napa house at about 7:50 a.m., where a man was being cooled in a shower after suffering a burn……...

We have discussed the Maximum Allowable Quantity (MAQ) extensively over the years, but a lot of facilities just can’t stay within the confines of a MAQ so what are they to do?  Well, it an easy answer but it is not so easy to meet!  In this article, I will explain the four (4) H…...

This is another hotly debated topic among my tight-knit group of fellow safety and fire protection engineers and Lord knows we have plenty of photographic and video evidence that there seems to be a large segment of the population who need help with Dispensing Fuel into Portable Containers.  Hence the government has a code that…...

This debate reaches far into the safety profession and the opinions will vary widely among us.  But recently a state, which will remain un-named for this article, passed a fire code requirement for Flaming food and beverage preparation.  One year, many years ago, we were performing audits for a business, and during each audit, we…...

The phase-down and restriction of the most common and widely used refrigerants was initiated in the late 1980’s and has spurred innovation, both for the alternative refrigerants that have been introduced as well as in the equipment that uses them. Safety Group A2L refrigerants (lower toxicity and lower flammability) represent the most recent in the…...

After nearly 20 years in ER specializing in large-scale incidents, I can say that with this news I am sorry I got out of the work when I did.  This addition to the rails of the USA will be a fun and wild addition.  LNG—referred to as “Methane, refrigerated liquid”  within the HMR—has been transported…...

The City of Henderson, NV has upped their game when it comes to their adoption of the 2018 International Fire Code in order to address “remote tank filling”.   The new item addresses requirements for tank filling operation connections preventing unwanted filling into the wrong tanks where properties have both acids and bases, which has occurred…...

Almost every safety professional on the planet that works with chemicals, emergency response, and confined spaces knows that the Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health (IDLH) exposure is a game changer!  But so many also struggle with what it means to actually work in an IDLH atmosphere.  In this article, I want to try and…...

Most of us know that a properly designed and installed ventilation system is our FIRST option for controlling hazardous concentrations of flammable vapors, gases, fumes, mists or dust, and volatile or airborne materials posing a health hazard, such as toxic or corrosive materials.  And thankfully, most workstations and areas that need proper ventilation have it…...