WARNING! Viewer discretion is advised. This video veers off my typical industrial safety topic, but it is one that every safety professional and emergency responder needs to see AND HEAR. It is a video that will haunt you, SO TAKE MY ADVISORY SERIOUSLY, but I do think that as painful as it may be, it…...
As usual, OSHA released their annual news at the National Safety Council’s Congress and Expo… OSHA’s Top 10 Standards Cited. The Top 10 for FY 2016* are: # Topic OSHA Std # of Citations 1 Fall Protection 1926.501 6,929 2 Hazard Communication 1910.1200 5,677 3 Scaffolds 1926.451 3,906 4 Respiratory Protection 1910.134 3,585 5 Lockout/Tagout…...
This article is intended to walk us through the DOT requirements for UNLOADING LPG and NH3 tanker trucks. In the DOT requirements covered in this article, we will see items that mirror OSHA’s PSM and EPA’s RMP requirements for DOCUMENTING Safety Systems and their intended functions. The material covered here should be incorporated into all…...
As I have stated my position many times, I push back really hard when a Hazardous Material is being loaded or unloaded using a hose that I, nor my co-worker who is taking part in the tasks, has any idea of its age, history of use, pressure and temp ratings, etc. This puts a lot…...
This is an investigative report of the March 16, 2016 hydrogen/oxygen explosion at the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus (UH), in which a postdoctoral researcher lost her arm and sustained burns to her face and temporary loss of hearing. The postdoctoral researcher was working in a laboratory at the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute in the Pacific Ocean…...
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urge employers (owners and operators) to conduct a root cause analysis following an incident or near miss at a facility.1 A root cause is a fundamental, underlying, system-related reason why an incident occurred that identifies one or more correctable system failures.2 By conducting a root cause analysis…...
The information in this report is preliminary and will be supplemented or corrected during the course of the investigation. On August 27, 2016, about 8:26 a.m. eastern daylight time, tank car AXLX 1702, specification DOT 105J500W, experienced a sudden tank shell crack shortly after it was filled with liquefied compressed chlorine at a rail car…...
Fire and Building Code Officials are likely seeing the new Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) and new Safety Data Sheets with new chemical hazard pictograms. This ICC FACT SHEET is intended to provide Fire and Building Code Officials information relative to the modified OSHA Hazardous Communications Standard (HazCom) and address the potential impacts to…...
Although the dates of these letters are eariler this year, they were just posted… Responsible party’s address and phone number on SDSs and labels [1910.1200(c)] Requirements for labeling of products shipped for export to domestic and international destinations, under the revised Hazard Communication Standard (HCS 2012) [1910.1200(f)(1)(i)] … Membership Required You must be a member to...
These past two weeks we have seen some interesting developments on two OSHA actions: 1) anti-retaliation provisions in the new record-keeping rule and 2) Walking-Working Surfaces and Personal Protective Equipment (Fall Protection Systems) in General Industry (Subpart D and Subpart I) . It seems a judge has delayed OSHA’s enforcement of its anti-retaliation provisions in the new record-keeping…...
In my HAZMAT classes, I always ask the question: A container of diesel fuel is at its flash point, and a gasoline container is at its flash point – an ignition source is present within the container – which container ignites first? Nearly 100% of the students will say the gasoline container and nearly 100% are…...
In my upbringing in the chemical industry I had the opportunity to work with some outstanding engineers; too many to mention by name. These men and women took time out of their busy schedules to teach me process safety. One of these engineers was very strict about his process piping and every engineer in the…...
