If we wish to find out why accidents occurred and find ways of preventing them from happening again, we need a sympathetic attitude towards people who have committed so-called violations, have made slips, had lapses of attention, or not learnt what their training was supposed to teach them. It is a small price and is […]
NOTE: I totally disagree with this ALJ decision; however, I give him much credit as I listened to the witnesses and followed the evidence he had presented. This amputation injury was a LOTO violation in my eyes, and I would have argued this case differently. But here are the facts presented to the Judge: what
In the year 2023, we still get the old questioning of the intent of LOTO. It never fails; in our LOTO training, we will get operators repeating the application of LOTO to their jobs, word for word, as I have stated it, and then comes the $60,000 question… Does my boss know about this? Another
Damage to Drain Nozzles on Tote Tanks Poses Leak Hazard BSEE has become aware of multiple instances in the Gulf of Mexico region where tote tank drain nozzles have been damaged, leading to leaks and spills during lifting events. These incidents have raised significant safety concerns, and it is crucial that possible risks
If a facility spends hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars on paint the month before an audit… we may be doing “it” wrong! Early in my career, I sat in my weekly staff meeting when the plant manager announced our corporate safety and health audit. As in most organizations, these are “big deals”. A
As we end 2023, we will have exceeded 30+ years of OSHA’s Process Safety Management (PSM) standard. And yet, still today, we can walk out into a random covered process, place our hand on a process component, and the facility will struggle to provide us a “cut-sheet” for the component (i.e., what), when it was
In today’s safety arena, metrics still rage on. I believe in metrics; everything should be DEFINED and QUANTIFIED in safety, and “performance metrics” are no different. Advanced SMSs utilize “leading indicators” rather than “lagging indicators” such as injury rates, WC $s, etc. This is a significant advancement in safety – measuring the activities (and their
The Safety Manager is responsible for developing, implementing, operating, and continuously improving the organization’s SMS. They should act as a focal point for safety in the organization. Typically, the Safety Manager is required to be competent and responsible for the following:
For years, I have advised my clients to use the ANSI/ASSE Z590.2 standard when building their Safety Management System (SMS), as it provides a clear-cut model for the Scope and Function of the safety professional’s role within an organization. Members can read the following two articles on how this can be done. Establishing the scope,
A cleaning crew member, with no electrical qualifications, switched on a high voltage (2200V 3Ph) electrical switch for a piece of equipment after it had been locked out. The worker’s hand was burnt by escaping arc gasses and flames coming through a damaged door gasket. The equipment has a 2100-volt ac synchronous motor that is
Voltage tests were being performed in a bucket of the MCC with a multi-meter that had the test lead connected to the amperage port and an underrated fuse. When connected to the 600-volt source, the multi-meter shorted, leading to an arc flash. The arc flash caused burns to the face and hands and pushed the
In a food processing facility, an employee moved a pallet from an upper storage rack using a forklift when the forks were lifted too high and contacted the roofing panel near an ammonia line. The roofing panel pushed up, bending the liquid ammonia refrigeration line. A two-bolt flange connection was strained, causing an uncontrolled leak
