Without TRUST, safety doesn’t stand a chance! Companies require employees to attend annual “ethics training.” Behind the scenes, the company is lying to all its stakeholders. First, it was VW and now FCA (formerly Chrysler). And companies can’t seem to understand why their safety cultural surveys are always pointing to a lack of TRUST as […]
I have been referring SAFTENG members to subscribe to the “Bulletin,” a FREE publication from the National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors. This publication is an EXCELLENT resource for those safety professionals dealing with pressure vessel safety, especially those in the process safety arena. Their latest edition covers two (2) very significant changes
To be blunt on a serious matter, MOST balers I have come across are indeed a PRCS. Some can easily be reconfigured in order to reclassify using some simple LOTO practices to eliminate the hazard AND to open them up (LOCKED OPEN) which would put the tasks as a “maintenance task” and not an “entry
Why so many try to make such a simple safety process so difficult has puzzled me for years! Even in Group LOTO, each employee is protected by the LOTO MUST have EXCLUSIVE CONTROL of the devices protecting them. It is that simple. This organization should be embarrassed for asking these questions, especially when their scenarios
Often people tend to think that using electronics or technology automatically falls into the realm of an “engineering control” rather than an administrative control. Today’s local news story is a perfect example of this. We have this overpass in Cincinnati that is notorious for catching trucks. I have a local client that I would spend
A federal workplace safety investigation into a Jan. 19, 2022, ammonia leak that hospitalized two workers and led to the evacuation of about 50 workers at a Canton poultry processing plant found their employer might have prevented the incident by ensuring required safety standards were followed. OSHA found the uncontrolled temperature and pressure conditions on
Sometimes it is nice to be validated, even if it is by the government (who sets the minimum performance standards) and about 28 years late! But OSHA has finally made it clear in an LOI that a “single line valve is not permitted for isolation of hazards during entry“… Background: An employer has installed a
On May 14, 2022, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) conducted a full-scale shell impact test (Test 13) of a DOT-113C120W9 (also identified as DOT-113) specification tank car at the Transportation Technology Center (TTC) in Pueblo, CO. This test was the final impact test in a planned series of four. A DOT-113 is a double-walled tank
How many times have you paused before entering a high-noise area to put in your hearing protection, only to get strange looks like, “WTH is taking you so long?” Most workers and even a fair amount of safety professionals do not understand the “subtract 7” approach when performing the attenuation evaluation. The “subtract 7” approach
I have been preaching one simple approach to safety management my entire career after having learned it from the master himself… Claude Bloom. BALANCE is the KEY. There is no one magical approach to managing safety in the workplace. These days the big catchphrases are HOP and Psychological Safety. I am a believer in both
This is my “high-level” presentation to management teams on what the journey will look like and the effort it will take. It is one thing to say “we want to be world-class” vs. what it will take to get there AND stay there. Heck, I have yet to find a management group that could collectively
