Safety Info Posts

Can OSHA require abatement when no citation has been issued? (OSHRC and enterprise-wide abatement)

As some of you may recall the Post Office got hammered by OSHA some years ago, and from those inspections, OSHA asked for abatement across all post office locations.  One of those items was related to heat stress, and I might add that already this summer we have seen another heat stroke fatality within the…...

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Are your LOTO “machine specific” procedure actually “specific” and the OSHRC settles the debate about isolating a PRCS

This 2018 decision is a MUST read for all safety professionals who wish to question the requirement for “machine specific” isolation procedures for “complex processes” AND for those who want to understand the isolation expectation for entry into a PRCS.  This business made two mistakes that run rampant in businesses when it comes to the…...

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Anhydrous Ammonia will BURN! (Video)

WARNING!  NEVER, in your wildest dreams, EVER EVER do this!!!!  But this video does show us the flammable properties of ammonia gas.  Crazy I tell ya, just crazy – not to mention this is just NOT the way Hot Work was intended to be carried.  SO MANY concerns – but I just wanted to demonstrate…...

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“Slugging” Compressor with liquid ammonia (Video)

 This is a telling video, showing us the consequences of “slugging a compressor” with liquid anhydrous ammonia.  I do not have the details of the event, but one would have to consider the cause being a “High Level” in the vessel the compressor is intending to pull vapor from.  These vessels should have level control…...

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Line Break Gone Bad (tetra-methyl ammonium hydroxide and man-lift)

At 4:45 p.m. on December 27, 2017, an employee was adding piping from a man-lift to a chemical tank when he struck a transducer on a nearby chemical tank containing tetra-methyl ammonium hydroxide. The employee was drenched and was able to lower the man-lift and get into the emergency wash station. Several co-workers assisted the…...

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2018 IFC addresses pallet storage

Way back in the early 1990’s I learned a valuable lesson the “hard way,” and to this day, facility siting means something altogether different than how most view it.  Those that work with me know I hate having combustibles such as empty pallets around chemical processes, especially flammable processes.  But even non-flammable processes, such as…...

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Did the 2018 IFC just codify NFPA 652?

For many of us, it will be coming!  Most states in the USA adopt the International Fire Code (IFC) as their Fire Code and HAZMAT Code; although most adopt a “revised” version of the IFC and most states run anywhere from 5-15 years behind the actual IFC.  For example, my home state of OH just…...

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Labeling for PSM/RMP Process “Battery Limits”

When I was growing up in the profession, PSM was the king standard we lived by. Everything we did revolved around our Process Safety Management System. One thing that I continue to find is facility personnel not assigned to the process and contractors working within the covered process “battery limits” and never knowing what they…...

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MIOSHA revises their Eyewash/Shower Equipment requirements

As you know, I love using some of the State OSHA Plan standards as they can be more protective and offer some explanations as to their requirements.  The state of Michigan just renewed its 1910.151 standard as it relates to Eyewash/Shower Equipment and in doing so has offered some excellent insight into their revisions.  Whereas…...

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