Does your business allow workers to carry their personal lighters in their pockets? In my word of Flammable Liquids and Gases (FLAGs) and HAZ MATs we never allowed people to have lighters on them while on our property – some companies do not even allow them in parking lots. In most of my plants, our…...
Cigarette lighters in pockets during hotwork – Allow or Prohibit? Read More »
At 12:00 p.m. on November 5, 2019, Employee #1 was making a small spot weld on a piece of metal. He was performing the weld on a drum that contained windshield washer fluid, a CATEGORY 3 Flammable Liquid. There was an explosion, and the drum hit the employee’s face. Liquid splashed on the employee and…...
Another welding on used container fatality Read More »
This new Instruction establishes OSHA’s field inspection and enforcement procedures designed to ensure uniformity when addressing respirable crystalline silica exposures in the workplace. These two new expanded health standards, general industry/maritime (29 CFR § 1910.1053) and construction (29 CFR § 1926.1153), were published in the Federal Register on March 25, 2016, and became effective June…...
OSHA issues a new CPL for Silca Exposures Read More »
If you have not seen it yet, just wait and one of your anti-mask friends will be sure to share it with you. My phone blew up this weekend from e-mails, texts, and FB messengers from friends concerned with what they saw before their very eyes. I tried to explain what they were seeing, but…...
I am sharing this citation as Nitrogen (N2) use is becoming more and more popular in businesses that often times may not have the level of safety necessary to store and handle this level of hazardous materials. I have personally seen N2 being used in personal grooming services and microbrewing and now this was a…...
OSHA HAZ COM citiations after Nitrogen asphyxiation fatality Read More »
A few weeks back one of my good friends and a hell of a process safety professional contacted me about OSHA’s Hot Work (HW) referenced RAGAGEP, NFPA 51B. He wanted to be sure he was not missing something, as OSHA still references the Year 1962 Edition of NFPA 51B. Just to show how broken OSHA…...
OSHA, Hot Work, and our Grandfathers Read More »
In light of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, OSHA understands that some employers may face difficulties complying with OSHA standards due to the ongoing health emergency. Widespread business closures, restrictions on travel, limitations on group sizes, facility visitor prohibitions, and stay-at-home or shelter-in-place requirements may limit the availability of employees, consultants, or contractors who…...
As we have discussed, the latest revisions of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) has a new criterion for categorization of flammable gases. The GHS now has sub-categories of CAT 1 Flammable Gases: 1A and 1B. CAT 1B flammable gases have a fundamental burning velocity of less than 10 cm/s. …...
How fast is a 10 cm/sec flame front? Read More »
The United Nations issued its 8th Revision to the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) late last year and in this 8th revision we have some very good guidance on Combustible Dust (COM DUST). For the record, OSHA is considering adopting the 7th Revision; we currently are using the 3rd revision…...
The Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) is publishing this interim final rule to update the regulatory requirements used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)to test and approve air-purifying particulate respirators for use in the ongoing public health emergency. With this rulemaking, parallel…...
Interim final rule to update the regulatory requirements NIOSH to test and approve PAPRs Read More »
I have written several articles lately explaining the limitations of storing flammables and toxics. A couple of these articles referenced the International Fire Code (IFC) which is my favorite safety code for hazardous materials. OSHA’s 1910.106 is from the 1969 NFPA 30 and has not been sustainably updated since; whereas the IFC gets updated every…...
Fire Code and CLOSED and OPEN Systems Read More »
These two terms are often discussed on OSHA outreach training courses, but I hardly ever mention them as they are more “legal” terms than safety terms. But this month, MI-OSHA issued guidance to their CSHO’s which I thought did a really nice job explaining what these terms mean and how they are used in issuing…...
What is a Vertical Standard vs a Horizontal Standard? Read More »
