Catastrophic driveshaft failure on fire pump during weekly test
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Employers Seeking Relief Under Temporary Enforcement Guidance (Respiratory Protection)
It is important to understand that the temporary enforcement guidance memoranda do NOT offer blanket waivers or exemptions for complying with any OSHA standards or provisions of such standards, including the Respiratory Protection standard (e.g., annual fit-testing requirements). Rather, they allow for enforcement discretion by CSHOs during the COVID-19 pandemic period in circumstances where an…...
More COVID-19 safety and OSHA inspections (HAZCOM and Flammable Liquids)
This week I received a call from a client who had yet another visit from OSHA regarding COVID-19 complaints, but this time the CSHO was an experienced safety professional who peeled that onion back a few more layers and thus she was recommending a serious violation of HAZCOM related to the COVID-19 safety program. What…...
Addressing Hazardous Area Electrical Installations (USCG)
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) has issued a Safety Alert to emphasize the importance of properly installed and maintained listed or certified safe electrical equipment in hazardous areas in order to reduce the risk of fire or explosion on board vessels. The publication follows an increasing number of instances by the Coast Guard where…...
How high are your loading docks? (1910.28(b)(1))
This citation is what we call a “gimme” as this can be found at just about every workplace that has loading docks. We have written this up many times during our S&H audits, only to get some lovely looks and compliments from the facility personnel. Many seem to think that if the dock is only…...
The sad state of Hazard Communications in safety
It’s been 8 years since we have been using the Globally Harmonized System for our Hazardous Communications. This much-needed update to OSHA’s HAZCOM standard was intended to correct many bad practices and to “harmonize” the USA with the rest of the world. One of the big drivers for this change was the need to formalize…...
Cigarette lighters in pockets during hotwork – Allow or Prohibit?
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…...
Another welding on used container fatality
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…...
OSHA issues a new CPL for Silca Exposures
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…...
The internet sensation… face coverings can cause headaches due to lack of Oxygen (Truth or Fiction?)
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…...
Ammonia refrigeration and evaporative condenser entry options (PRCS)
As promised, this is my follow-up to my previous posts regarding Ammonia Refrigeration Evaporative Condensers and the fact that they are Permit-Required Confined Spaces (PRCS). In this article, I will explain the options we have to enter these spaces and what all goes into each entry option. Before we get into each entry option, it…...
Why can’t we use the PRESSURE CHANGE TEST in ASME Section V for leak testing B31.3 piping?
ASME B31.3 does not permit the use of an “ASME Section V Pressure Change Test” as a substitute for the mandatory leak testing requirements (hydrostatic, pneumatic, or initial service leak test) defined in Chapter VI of the B31.3 Code. Why It Cannot Be Used as a Substitute:… Membership Required You must be a member to...