Most safety professionals are well aware of the many medical evaluations called out in OSHA standards, such as the medical evaluations for workers wearing respirators, emergency responders, etc. But we also have a medical evaluation requirement in Process Safety Management that plays a critical role in our piping Quality Assurance (QA) program. When using either…...
Peeling the onion with your ASME B31.3 pipe examiners! Read More »
I see severe risk-taking regarding “safety assumptions” in process safety in my travels. I guess I am just “old school” and believe that every Pressure Vessel (PV) deserves its very own Pressure Relieving Device (PRD). But in today’s economy, where “costs” can be a driver in decision-making, I have experienced numerous scenarios where a single…...
A single Pressure Relieving Device (PRD) protecting multiple Pressure Vessels Read More »
Overview: A tire blowout occurs after the mechanical failure of the tire or rim assembly at pressures typically around 145 psi. Tires exposed to heat may undergo the process described below and violently explode. Explosive Process: There are three (3) phases leading to a tire explosion: 1. Air pressure inside the tire will rise from…...
Safety Bulletin – Large Vehicle Tire Fires (LA County FD) Read More »
The Respondent owns and operates a bleach manufacturing facility, which operates a bleach manufacturing process (the Process) and maintains a maximum chlorine inventory greater than the threshold quantity of 2,500 pounds. The Process is subject to OSHA’s process safety management standard, 29 C.F.R. § 1910.119, because the Process involves greater than the threshold quantity of…...
EPA RMP citations @ bleach manufacturing plant (Cl2 & $88K) Read More »
For my Process Safety followers, here is your Monday Morning “trick question” (which I do not know the answer to)… Scenario: I have an ASME Section VIII Pressure Vessel that will be used in flammable liquid service. The “dip leg(s)” inside the vessel do not extend down to 6″ from the bottom of the vessel…...
R-Stamp weld or ASME B31.3 weld? Read More »
So many want to accuse Heinrich of being too heavy on “unsafe acts” and claim that he held the workers too responsible for their injuries. This is just pure hogwash! I have shared many passages from Heinrich’s writings from the 1920s-1930, and each one clearly shows that he was more a fan of what we…...
Safety Thought of Week… Defending H. W. Heinrich’s work (again) Read More »
This was another WRONG CHEMICAL—WRONG TANK incident at a resort. It was an unloading accident, and “human error” was said to have caused it. The chemical leak is believed to have resulted from hydrochloric acid being accidentally poured into a chlorine tank during a delivery. The incident, attributed to human error, is under thorough investigation…...
WRONG CHEMICAL – WRONG TANK (HCL unloaded to Cl2 tank) Read More »
Whether we are talking about Process Safety or Occupational Safety and Health management systems, the ability to track corrective actions and recommendations discovered from the Safety Process/SMS activities may be one of the most critical aspects of any management system; it is undoubtedly the driving force behind any “Continuous Improvement” efforts. In the process safety…...
Safety Management System Element to track corrective actions/recommendations Read More »
These days, too many companies have short-circuited their “new employee safety orientation.” They have either substantially shortened the time employees are in “safety orientation” or, worse, changed the format from face-to-face to a CBT format using information that is NOT even specific to the site-specific safety programs/practices. And then they call me and ask, “Why…...
[My] Safety Thought of the Week – New Employee Orientation Read More »
Most safety pros have seen the videos of workers in car washes doing some outlandish behaviors. We may have been snickered at what we watched. But this is the real result of what we saw in those videos… At midnight on January 13, 2024, an employee, 26, cleaned the car wash tunnel and equipment. The…...
Carwash fatality (blunt-force trauma & strangulation) Read More »
I have been sharing this battle in my social media groups; but now the PHMSA has gotten pulled into the battle and was quick to respond to a request for an interpretation. Response Publish Date: 05/28/2024 Company Name: Individual Name: Mr. Fred Storer Location State: OK Country: US Response text:… Membership Required You must...
PHMSA gets pulled into the Tulsa Butane Transloading battle Read More »
Please note, this is NOT a chemical process safety incident, but the design failures and human errors are directly related to process safety hazards. The design of a new passenger ferry’s engine and inadequate follow-on training for engineering crewmembers led to a 2022 fire aboard a Staten Island Ferry. The fire broke out in the…...
Design Flaw, Lack of Training Caused Fire on Staten Island Ferry Read More »
