Lockout Tagout

At 1:15 p.m. on 11/3/2020, a worker employed by an HVAC company, was working at a customer’s commercial facility. He was in the process of removing a coupler and blind from the intake header of an air dryer. The employee did NOT first relieve the air pressure from the header…. Membership Required You must be...

At 9:45 a.m. on December 11, 2020, an employee was preparing to do maintenance on a natural gas (NG) compressor. The compressor was not prepared for maintenance correctly (e.g., not LOTO’ed properly), pressure built up, and an engine cap struck the employee on the head…. Membership Required You must be a member to access this...

In the 90s, I was working a turn-around at a sister facility and learned the niftiest trick related to Double Block and Bleed (DB&B).  When the isolation valves and the bleed valve were nearby (i.e., a couple of feet or less) of each other, they would use just a single lock to secure the isolation. …...

A worker at a milk packaging plant operated by a large supermarket chain lost four fingers while operating a molding machine that lacked the required safeguards.  OSHA investigated the Feb. 12 incident and cited the business for two (2) willful and five (5) serious violations and one (1) other than serious violation for: Failing to…...

Line Breaking and Equipment Opening (LEO) hazards are oftentimes not well recognized or respected, even in PSM/RMP-covered processes.  Once we are removed from a “covered process,” the lack of recognition and lack of respect only increases.  But in my career, some of the more serious accidents involving LEO on lines/equipment did NOT involve processes covered…...

This is a fascinating case, as the OSHRC has upheld this citation, although they significantly reduced the $ and made it “other-than-serious.” But again, I disagree with this case, as the workers appeared to have been protected during the belt change; they did not follow the LOTO procedure, which I believe was “lazily written.” This…...

At 6:52 p.m. on August 10, 2020, three (3) employees attempted to remove a clog from a hydrolyzed. A hydrolyzed apparatus is used to conduct the hydrolysis reaction in starch. The employees were unable to get the steam to release from the pressure vessel. Employee #1, a senior maintenance worker, made the decision to open…...

While cleaning an auger used to rice potatoes, a 39-year-old production worker found her left arm caught in a running auger. The worker suffered multiple lacerations and a partial amputation of her arm. Co-workers had to cut the auger apart to free her arm. An investigation in September 2020 by OSHA determined that the business…...

Most facilities will have a piece of equipment that is so large and complex that it will entail isolating many sources of all types of energy in order to get the entire system to a zero energy state (ZES).  But what do we do when we have a task that involves exposure to only one…...