On July 9, 1959, the Charlotte Fire Department responded to a fire at the former Charlotte Chemical Company on West Templeton Avenue, just off South Boulevard. The building, then under demolition, still housed a large vat of chemical material in the basement. Believing the substance to be kerosene, firefighters fought the fire with standard tactics—until…...
On March 5, 2025, at 10:55 a.m., a welder, 57, with over seven (7) years of mining experience, died when he became entangled in a belt conveyor tail roller. The accident occurred because the mine operator did not de-energize and block the No. 12 belt conveyor against hazardous motion. GENERAL INFORMATION The mine is a…...
Recently, we had the never-ending debate about locking out valves being used as energy isolation devices. Somewhere/Sometime ago, a vicious rumor/practice found some legs, and we began seeing the practice during our audits. The unsafe and non-OSHA-compliant practice of disconnecting the power source from a Fail-Safe Closed valve and locking out the valve’s power source…...
Respondent produced, used, or stored ammonia at the Facility and released a reportable quantity of an EHS, ammonia. On or about August 31, 2022, a “release” of ammonia in excess of 100 pounds occurred at the Facility (the release). As a result of the information obtained by the EPA and subsequent investigation, the Complainant has…...
I see numerous RMP citations for businesses failing to update its RMP submittal every five years. And the EPA will issue a single citation using 68.190. One day, I hope the EPA will take this a step further and issue another citation against 68.15…… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View...
I normally do not share cases that are handled as Expedited Settlement Agreements (ESA) but this one incldued three (3) very common findings during our PSM/RMP audit, so I am sharing this case: Source: https://yosemite.epa.gov/OA/RHC/EPAAdmin.nsf/Filings/55591B2C4849A1E585258CBB006EE6A9/$File/CAA-01-2025-0037%20Bic%20Consumer%20Products%20Final%20Order.pdf… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...
Since I was a student in safety at MSU, there has been a “Risk Model” that depicts a zoo worker feeding a lion in its cage. This model has been revised many times, but it does a great job of providing a visual display of how risk can change based on how the “system” is…...
A team of auditors identified a potential risk associated with bypassed safety devices and inconsistent interpretation of regulations after multiple incidents of noncompliance were issued, associated with the operator’s failure to comply with 30 CFR 250.869 and 30 CFR 250.870 in 2025. The BSEE Performance-Based Risk Inspection (PBRI) covered five assets (all production platforms) in…...
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has investigated a recent offshore gas release incident resulting from the failure of a ¾-inch pipe nipple connected to a compressor suction scrubber (Figure 1). The failure led to an immediateplatform shut-in and a full muster of personnel onboard. The released gas posed a significant safety risk,…...
The NSC Safety and Health Maturity Assessment is a free tool that helps organizations identify where they are on their safety journey and offers next steps to improve safety. Please take 15 minutes to complete the assessment, then share your feedback via a short survey. CLICK HERE… Membership Required You must be a member to...
When you see it… Flammable liquid railcar, in fact, it’s a carcinogenic flammable liquid, a Benzene railcar on fire. I know it’s hot as heck in MS this time of year, but dang: Just a lot of opportunities! The better option: Set up an unmanned(!!!) monitor nozzle, lay a couple hundred, if not 1,000s, of…...
At an Ethylene unit in the Czech Republic (2015), when swapping over cooling water supply lines during a flowmeter calibration, the operator made a simple mistake. While intending to open valve #3 on the spare supply line, he closed the identical valve #2 instead, shutting off all cooling water to the Light Ends columns. A…...
