A boiler maker, 36, suffered fatal burns after an explosion occurred at a refinery. A contractor employed the victim and two injured co-workers at the facility. The three employees were hospitalized as a result of the explosion. The victim died four days later from burns over approximately 90% of his body. The events occurred in…...
Line Break gone bad (Flare and Knock-Out Drum) Read More »
The dismissal of people and their behavior concerning risk as idiotic really doesn’t help much… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...
I will use one of the last tests when a facility has hit home runs in managing its Hazardous Communications program. They are great with their container labeling, pipe labeling, training, etc. They even could provide an SDS for all their significant chemicals; however, only a tiny percentage of these facilities can do this…… Membership...
How good is your HAZCOM program management? Read More »
On Friday, January 28, 2022, at about 6:37 a.m. eastern standard time, the Fern Hollow Bridge, which carried Forbes Avenue over the north side of Frick Park in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, experienced a structural failure. As a result, the 447-foot-long bridge fell about 100 feet into the park below. The collapse began when the…...
NTSB Animation – Overview of the collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge Read More »
It comes from this requirement in OSHA’s HAZWOPER standard and has sound logic behind it… (emphasis by me) 1910.120(q)(3)(iv) Employees engaged in emergency response and exposed to hazardous substances presenting an inhalation hazard or potential inhalation hazard shall wear positive pressure self-contained breathing apparatus while engaged in emergency response, until such time that the individual…...
Why Level B is the MINIMUM for 1st Entry Read More »
This one is bound to offend some folks in the safety profession, but it was some very wise advice a dear friend and former boss gave me after I submitted my first Corrective Action Plan (CAP) to him after a corporate audit. Just 12 years into my career, I was taught the hard way how…...
Are we interior decorators or safety professionals? Read More »
A mature Safety Management System (SMS) will contain a Hazard Identification Element that identifies hazards that adversely affect safety. These HAZARD ID processes also provide practical and objective mechanisms to assess the risk presented by those identified hazards and implement ways to eliminate or mitigate the associated risks those hazards may pose to the worker,…...
Management’s Safety Dilemma (Reason’s “Safety Space”) Read More »
Effective SMS implementation heavily depends upon a clear, mutual understanding of ERRORS and VIOLATIONS and the differentiation between the two. The difference between ERRORS and VIOLATIONS lies in INTENT. While an error is unintentional, a violation is a deliberate act or omission to deviate from established procedures, protocols, norms, or practices. Errors or violations may result…...
The source is unknown, but this is hilarious. The supporting actor gets my vote for an Oscar…. Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...
HAZMAT Response – TX Style (Safety Satire Video) Read More »
Maybe 1% of businesses we come across are ready for something more than a fundamental approach to safety management. Most have not even given a formal and structured Safety Management System (SMS) a chance to work, or they have stripped down an already very basic SMS to nothing more than “window dressing” and then complained,…...
We have to stop the madness! Read More »
Yes, I am betting this same drum again. I believe in Reason’s SMS model, especially his Human Failure model of Errors, Mistakes, and Violations. This recent incident is a perfect example of management’s lack of understanding of SMS fundamentals and how LATENT ORGANIZATIONAL FAILURES result in horrible outcomes. Essentially, this is what happened: An LOPC…...
Latent Organizational Failure vs Active Failure (LOPC Event and suspending Operators) Read More »
As you know, I always like to go back in time and pass on what I learned from my former bosses and mentors. This one is a classic and is usually in the Top 5 frustrations of non-safety management personnel: The ever-changing safety programs and expectations every time we get a new safety leader I…...
As a ops or maintenance manager are you tired of all the safety changes? Read More »
