In March 2026, NIOSH issued a formal request for information to update the IDLH Value Profiles. While ammonia has an established IDLH of 300 ppm, the agency is seeking new toxicology and human health effects data to refine these values. The Focus: The RFI specifically looks for “weight-of-evidence” data on how chemical modes of action—such…...
I stumbled across this international study regarding community effects from a large scale NH3 release in 2022. The study wanted to validate or in-validate community complaints years after the event. Residents, numbers unknown, had been complaining of “loss of smell” after being exposed to hundreds of ppm’s of NH3. The study was interesting in that…...
We continue to see NH3 LOPC events from piping and piping components. We could debate whether PSM/RMP has had an impact on this industrial sector. I have no idea what actually failed nor do I know the failure mode. What I do know is that NH3 makes the news weekly. Compared to Chlorine, #2 HHC/EHS…...
I really struggle to understand how so many smart people that use the acronym “PSI” dozens of times a day, but never really grasp what it means. I have debated this topic hundreds of times as it always comes up in my LOTO and Process Safety courses and daily work I do in these safety…...
On March 9, 2009, Employee #1 was testing a newly-installed 6 in. steel fire protection water main. When it was pressurized with air, a 6 in. pipe cap flew off the end of the pipe and struck Employee #1’s forehead, killing him. Violations/Penalties Serious Total Initial Violations 5 5 Current Violations 3 3 Initial Penalty…...
On May 4, 2013, Employee #1, a 40-year-old male construction worker was blinded by a test plug that burst while conducting a leak test on a new 4″ diameter sewer line which was made of cast iron. Employee #1 said that he inserted a 2″ diameter by 2′ long test plug into the new cast…...
Employee #1 was a maintenance technician at a company that performs epitaxial processes for semiconductor manufacturing. He reported to work in the fabrication area and was briefed by a coworker, also a maintenance technician, about the day’s projects. After a few minutes, other workers began to smell a strong chemical odor, and some saw a…...
At approximately 7:30 a.m. on November 2, 2007, a technician in building Number II was conducting weld-penetration tests with a chemical solution containing 95-percent ethyl nitric acid (70-percent concentration). An old container of the solution in a storage can that had been stored on a bottom shelf fell and broke when the lower shelf in…...
At approximately 9:30 a.m. on April 24, 2019, an employee was receiving a chemical. The vendor connected the nitric acid to the chlorine tank. Because it was mislabeled, it caused a reaction with a cloud that affected seven (7) other employees…. Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a...
Respondent is the owner and operator of a pork manufacturing and supply business. As reported in the Respondent’s risk management plan, anhydrous ammonia, Chemical Abstract Service (“CAS”) Number 7664-41-7, is used at the Facility to cool and freeze its pork products. The Facility’s freezing and cooling system holds 201,852 pounds of anhydrous ammonia. On August…...
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s Gulf of America Region identified a potential risk involving compressed gas cylinders across the Outer Continental Shelf in 2024 and 2025. During this period, multiple explosions were reported to the bureau and were linked to cylinder failures. Several of the explosions were severe, causing injuries and damage to…...
NOTE: OSHA would allow the “minor servicing exception” in this scenario, although the UK HSE does not. A tissue manufacturing company has been fined after an employee, 24, was seriously injured while clearing a machine blockage at its factory. During the manufacturing process, a tissue blockage occurred in the rollers of the machine, and the…...
