60 incidents & 0 updates (5/3/16)
… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...
Pipe flanges and process safety
As a process safety professional, what do we see and what comes to mind when we see a pipe flange like the one shown here? In this small and simple picture, how many sections of OSHA’s PSM standard (or EPA’s RMP rule) impact this pipe flange; better yet, can we name all the RGAGEPS that…...
2016 Video of the Week #18 (Atmospheric Tank Launch… again)
I just hope I can convince other safety professionals that atmospheric storage tanks containing flammable liquids are EXTREMELY DANGEROUS and deserve our respect when it comes to DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, FACILITY SITING, and MAINTENANCE (e.g. MI), and RELIEF PROTECTION. I recently had a lawyer attempt to make an argument that if these tanks were so dangerous…...
EPA RMP Citations @ refinery (Flammables & $718K)
Complainant alleges that Respondent violated the provisions identified herein and seeks the assessment of a civil penalty. Respondent owns and operates a refinery. At all times relevant to this action, Respondent processed, handled. and stored regulated flammable substances listed in 40 C.F.R. § 68.130 in a mixture at its facility. At all times relevant to…...
OSHA PSM citations @ manufacturer and distributor of chemicals (Ethylene Oxide & $80K)
OSHA has issued 14 serious violations ($80,000) after an October 2015 complaint investigation found the manufacturer and distributor of chemicals used in a variety of industries including manufacturing, water treatment and oil and gas violated OSHA’s PSM standard. Here is a breakdown of the citations:… Membership Required You must be a member to access this...
2016 Emergency Response Guide (ERG) now available
The much anticipated 2016 ERG (well it was for HAZMAT folks) is now available for download in Portable Document Format (pdf). The file size is 12700 KB. ERG 2016 – English GRE 2016 – Spanish Here is the link to the APP (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/erg-2016/id592158838?mt=8) See below for changes from the 2012 edition… … Membership Required You must be...
Intrinsically SAFE instrumentation MATTERS (digital pressure gauge caused explosion that severed arm)
UPDATE 10/18/2016 – Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Office reduced the number of violations cited from 15 to nine and lowering fines from $115,500 to $69,300. About a month after the blast, the Honolulu Fire Department said its investigation determined the explosion was likely caused by a digital pressure gauge in the tank that produced an…...
2016 Video of the Week #17 (Fatal Underground Gasoline Tank Explosion)
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! – This video is EXTREMELY GRAPHIC and shows a worker being lifted into the air and landing seconds later within the video. This was a PRCS FATALITY, so if seeing these types of REAL videos is upsetting, VIEWER DISCRETION is STRONGLY advised. Cause of this FATAL Accident was lack of control over…...
Does “emergency services” mean “rescue service” in OSHA’s new PRCS standard for Construction?
I have written several times now about OSHA’s new Construction Standard for Permit-Required Confined Spaces and how this new standard clarifies several aspects regarding the General Industry Standard 1910.146. But one requirement I continue to get push back on is the fact that ENTRY-STYLE Rescue is REQUIRED for ALL “permitted entires” in both Construction and…...
An OSHA PSM or an EPA RMP inspection is NOT a 3-year audit
Full disclosure, I do PSM/RMP audits, but that does not change the facts that I will present in this article. Over the past couple of years, I have seen first-hand companies cancel or fail to schedule their 3-year PSM/RMP audits because their State EPA, Federal EPA or OSHA did a PSM/RMP inspection at their facility…...
OSHA issues PRCS Citations @ food cannery($143K, Willful, Repeats)
A food cannery faces $143,550 in federal penalties after a worker, 35, fell more than 17 feet into an empty sauerkraut vat and broke multiple bones. The inspection that followed was the fourth time since 2011 that OSHA has cited the company for failing to protect workers from fall and machine hazards. On April 13,…...
OSHA issues PRCS (Construction) Citations @ WWTP (PRCS, Pressure Testing & $85K)
These citations are the FIRST OSHA citations using 1926.1201-1213, OSHA’s confined space in constructionOSHA’s confined space in construction standard. It is IMPORTANT to point out these citations involved work at a waste-water treatment plant (WWTP) which is normally a workplace that would fall under OSHA’s GENERAL INDUSTRY standards; however, the work being done INSIDE the 54″ pipe…...