Company Values (Virtue Signaling – Humor Video)
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Company Values (Virtue Signaling – Humor Video) Read More »
Safety Thought of the Week… Not knowing is powerful
The last few weeks I have been sharing passages from Dr. Todd Conklin’s books. And I could not agree more with 99% of what he teaches. This week is one of those 1%’ers… I believe that a GREAT Safety Management System (SMS) will in fact help organizations “learn” from accidents. Starting with a well established…...
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Managing Pressure Vessels and their Pressure Relief Devices is more than just PSM/RMP
With the recent catastrophic and fatal pressure vessel (PV) failure in KY, I have to speak up and point out a very dangerous and unfortunately common failure we see in our work. Far too often we visit a facility under the guise of doing process safety work and we typically find the PSM covered PVs…...
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Chemical Exposures from Industrial Valve and Piping Systems
Fundamentally, employers and employees must be alert to the fact that working with a “closed system” does not always ensure safety. Operations involving the opening of valves or pumps on otherwise closed systems or working on such equipment that is not isolated or locked/tagged out are particular sources of danger. When a normally closed system…...
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Hazards of Pneumatic Pressure Testing Piping with Nitrogen
At 8:04 a.m. on May 11, 2023, an employee, 58, working for an oil and gas support services company was found dead. On 5/10/23, the night before, the employee had instructed his coworkers from other contractors to go home, and he would finish the job up. This was the last time anyone had spoken to…...
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PRCS fatality (N2 asphyxiated)
At 10:20 a.m. on August 1, 2024, an employee, 53, was working inside a transformer. The employee entered a permitted confined space filled with nitrogen and asphyxiated due to overexposure to nitrogen. The employee was killed…. Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...
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Line Break Gone Bad (Flammable Gas)
At approximately 9:20 a.m. on December 1, 2010, Employee #1, #2 and #3 were working on the barge of an oilrig (Rig Number 1). They were removing a Christmas tree flange, an assembly of valves, spools, and fittings used to control the flow of oil or gas out of the well, with a cutting torch…....
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Line Break Gone Bad (Installing blinds to isolate a PRCS)
When we think the task is to improve safety for an entry, we may lose sight of the risks associated with opening process equipment, specifically flanges in the event. On July 23, 2009, Employee #1 and a coworker, both contract employees specializing in preparation of refinery equipment for entry, were installing blinds in piping preparatory…...
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Steam belongs in our Line Break Program
At 9:00 a.m. on October 6, 2019, an employee was attempting to open a flange. Steam released, burning the employee’s legs and lower body. The employee was hospitalized. 29 CFR 1910.269(d)(2)(iv)(D): The procedure did not clearly and specifically outline specific requirements for testing a machine or equipment to determine and verify the effectiveness of lockout…...
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Leak Testing per ASME Section V, Article 10 – Leak Testing
I see many contractors still attempting to argue that Pressure Testing and Leak Testing are the same tests. This is incorrect, as I have often discussed in my ramblings on this website. This post breaks down the requirements of the most common “leak test,” called the “bubble test.” ASME B31.3 refers us to ASME BPVC,…...
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Dawn dish soap may be great for dirty dishes and birds, but NOT for our “bubble test”
I see this often, a contractor wants to save some $ so they think they can make up their own “bubble-test” solutions. However, not only is this a very bad idea from a QA perspective, it is actually NOT TO CODE, as ASME Section V, MANDATORY APPENDIX I BUBBLE TEST — DIRECT PRESSURE TECHNIQUE, I-1032…...
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Safety Thought of the Week… People do not just become stupid
We must battle the need to believe that when a worker has some type of bad outcome, that adverse outcome happens because the worker becamemomentarily incompetent. Our thinking is driven by a bias toward bad things happening because someone did something bad. The bias that worker became stupid is really a strong force in how…...
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