Safety Info Posts

OSHA’s new “Emergency Response” standard and responder medical/fitness requirements

This provision of the draft standard would, based on the type and level of service(s) established by the Emergency Service Organizations (ESO), require the ESO to establish minimum medical requirements based on the tiers of responder duties, tasks, and responsibilities. A qualified healthcare professional would perform the medical evaluation of the responders. The medical evaluation […]

Technical Analysis: The Risks of Pneumatic vs. Hydrostatic Testing

A catastrophic incident at an engineering facility serves as a definitive case study in the dangers of improper pressure testing. A technician suffered life-altering injuries when a 335-liter (88-gallon) vessel exploded during a pressure test. The root cause was a fundamental failure in hazard control: the company opted to use compressed air (pneumatic testing) instead

EPA issues RMP citations @ “new” meat processing facility (NH3 & $87K)

Respondent owns and operates an ammonia refrigeration system at its meat processing facility which began operation in February 2019. The ammonia refrigeration system had an initial charge of 17,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia when operations began, making the facility subject to requirements of Chemical Accident Prevention Provisions in accordance with 40 C.F.R. § 68.10(a) and

OSHA’s proposed Emergency Response/Fire Brigade standard would not apply to all public sector emergency responders

The proposed OSHA standard will NOT apply to all public sector emergency responders. The scope is limited to Emergency Service Organizations (ESOs) and responders under OSHA’s jurisdiction. ONLY public ESOs that are in state plan states are under OSHA’s jurisdiction and therefore the analysis excludes public ESOs and responders in non-state-plan states. The following states

EPA finally answers the question: Are “tube” trailers considered a single process?

This has been a huge battle in the power generation and semi-conductor industries!  To me, it is very clear – as soon as the trailer is “dropped”, meaning the semi that was pulling the tube-trailer has been detached, then that trailer becomes a “stationary process”.  EPA has several documents making this point and for those

Once again EPA attempts to explain their CONCENTRATION QUALIFIERS concept

I have written often about this topic and it is without a doubt the most questioned/challenged topic in my 5-Day Advanced Process Safety course.  Several toxic substances are listed as regulated substances under 40 CFR §68.130 with CONCENTRATION QUALIFIERS (e.g., “conc 37% or greater”).  The four(4) regulated substances that have concentration qualifiers are: Ammonia (conc

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