RIP 🙏 The tank was emptied while the fuel pumps were being remodeled. After the man collapsed, the workers were unable to pull him out of the confined space about 10 to 15 feet below the surface. “The other workers were trying to get down in that hole and take them out. It’s obviously not…...
The state FM has been gracious in sharing this information with the SAFTENG community. Location:… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...
Employee #1, a welder, was inside a double-walled, approximately 5.5 ft in diameter steel tank to perform leak tests. A contractor had installed new stainless steel piping to the 1,000-gal blending tank, and initial use of the tank revealed some leakage where the new pipe entered the bottom of the tank. To perform the leak…...
It is my professional opinion that “golf carts” need to be managed as a Powered Industrial Truck (PIT). I have seen firsthand three (3) serious accidents resulting in life-altering injuries. We see fatalities like this one several times a year: https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/worker-at-nh-storage-facility-dies-after-being-pinned-under-golf-cart/3803079… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a...
On March 6, 2018, a 49-year-old pipefitter was hit in the chest by a pressurized 12-inch diameter polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe during a hydrostatic pressure test of a fire suppression system. The sudden pipe movement was attributed to a pipe joint connection failure in a buried section of the pipeline. The failure was due to…...
Imagine driving a vehicle without a dashboard. No feedback whatsoever as to how well you and the vehicle are performing. Sure, we can do it, but without feedback on our performance and the vehicle’s, I doubt we’d meet the state’s defined and quantified standards for “safe operation of a motor vehicle.” Just consider speed as…...
Natural gas was released into the basement of the Realty Building and caused an explosion in Youngstown, Ohio, after a member of a scrap removal crew cut into a steel pipeline. Although the cut pipeline had not been marked or otherwise identified as containing natural gas, it did contain gas, pressurized at about 38 psig,…...
This is not only about a failed pressure test gone bad, but it is an excellent example of how “contributing factors” play a role in accidents. Deviating from the test plan, changing the time frame in which the test is to be conducted due to a noise ordinance, etc., played a role in this multimillion-dollar…...
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) intends to update the medical evaluation provisions currently required by the Respiratory Protection Standard (29 CFR 1910.134) for filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) and loose-fitting powered air purifying respirators (PAPRs). This action will be deregulatory and / or burden reducing to employers whose employees wear such devices. This rulemaking…...
OSHA updated its agenda page and is saying it will publish an NPRM for the LOTO standard this December. Recent technological advancements that employ computer-based controls of hazardous energy (e.g., mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, chemical, and radiation) conflict with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) existing lock-out/tag-out (LOTO) standard. The use of these computer-based controls…...
WorkSafe BC (British Columbia) is proposing some thoughtful improvements to its Part 6, Substance Specific Requirements, sections 6.116 to 6.132 — Toxic Process Gases. The hazardous materials that this effort focuses on are: This standard reads much like OSHA’s PSM standard; however, this standard has a bit more specific requirements. Some Highlights of the proposed…...
Upon investigation, it was found that an oxygen–acetylene welding setup inside the shipping container leaked, causing the closed shipping container to fill with the highly flammable mixture of oxygen and acetylene. There was also an upright freezer in use, powered by an extension cord running into the shipping container. This energized equipment provided an ignition…...
