Sizing emergency venting for atmospheric flammable liquid storage tanks is a safety-critical requirement, yet we often find it undersized. The core objective is to provide sufficient relief capacity so that, in the event of an external “exposure fire,” the tank does not rupture due to rapid internal pressure buildup from vaporizing liquid. Unlike normal venting […]
Although the revised Hazard Communication Standard (HCS 2012) does not become fully implemented until June 1, 2016, some provisions are already in effect or will soon be in effect (e.g., training). Per 29 CFR 1910.1200(j)(l), by December 1, 2013, all employers whose employees are potentially exposed to hazardous chemicals should have provided training on
Following an incident where a machine operator’s arms were crushed, OSHA cited the manufacturer, whose products are for the oil and gas industry, with eight willful, egregious violations. The company created a dangerous work environment by failing to guard machines, which exposed workers to life-threatening hazards. Proposed penalties total $560,000. OSHA began the September 2013
In August 2013, a 32-year-old machine helper entered a large wire mesh manufacturing machine to retrieve a fallen metal bar, and he was struck and killed by a part that feeds the wire into the machine’s welding area. The light curtain that would have automatically turned the machine off before he entered the danger zone
I want to try an clarify a couple of misconceptions that I and others may have implied over the past year. Each time I do a HAZCOM session I get asked the same questions, not from the workers, but from the EHS/Management personnel overseeing the facility’s HAZCOM program. In this post I try and answer
We have all heard the complaints about the evil OSHA inspectors and how much power their reign over USA businesses. We also hear statistics that there are only enough OSHA Compliance Safety and Health Officers (CSHO) to visit each US business every 99 years. So I had to ask the question… should OSHA just get
This Federal Register Notice contains the regulatory flexibility agenda. In addition, the Department’s Regulatory Plan, a subset of the Department’s regulatory agenda, is being published in the Federal Register. The Regulatory Plan contains a statement of the Department’s regulatory priorities and the regulatory actions the Department wants to highlight as its most important and significant.
From the accident files @ MSHA… This incident involves a failure to LOTO equipment during servicing and maintenance, with a contributing factor involving the mis-programming of the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) which permitted equipment to be inadvertently energized without warning. A mechanic/repairman, age 37, was fatally injured about 12:30 p.m. on January 8, 1997 when the
OSHA has announced that it will extend the comment period to March 8, 2014 on the proposed rule to improve workplace safety and health through improved tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses. The proposed rule would amend recordkeeping regulations to add requirements for the electronic submission of injury and illness information that employers are already
This is a great example of how businesses make the mistake of viewing LOTO as a “maintenance function” and therefore ONLY maintenance personnel need to be trained in LOTO. This case covers Training, Machine Specific procedures, and application of LOTO devices. It also shows how operations personnel can actually do “maintenance and servicing” activities (as
CAL-OSHA has issued a Notice of Rulemaking (pdf) after Emergency Adoption to make permanent the recently adopted Process Safety Management Program Assessment regulations. A public hearing has been scheduled for 10 a.m., February 3, 2014 in the auditorium of the Elihu Harris Building, 1515 Clay Street, Oakland, CA 94612. Members of the public may also submit
FYI OSHA issued this memo on 12/27/13 to Regional AD’s to close the gap on how Combustible Dust will be handled under the new HAZCOM std. Until OSHA addresses these issues through rulemaking, CSHOs will use this memo to determine if manufacturers and importers (from now on “classifier”) are in compliance with the obligations of
