As an accident investigator this has to be one of my favorite books. Of course, I am a massive fan of Dekker’s books and videos. He has a newer book on this topic that is also a MUST-READ for safety professionals and accident investigators. After nearly 16 years as a safety professional in the chemical […]
Lots of folks find it hard to believe when I discuss Minimum Ignition Energy for flammable vapors/gases and Combustible dust. When we get “shocked” by a door handle in the wintertime, and we can feel it, that is around 10-15 mJ. Most common flammable gases and vapors now have MIE’s less than 1.0 mJ. Watch
Please keep in mind that I am speaking strictly in terms of “complying” with required baseline standards and codes. Is 10,000% compliance a pipe dream? Should it be an expectation of the business leaders? 10,000% means 100% compliance -100% of the time. Remember, these are baseline standards/codes that have been in place for 40-50+ years
This Louisville explosion has started the debate about the plant being in a residential area. What most of the media and local politicians fail to mention is that the plant has been there since 1948. The neighborhood was allowed to build up around it because of lax zoning and spineless politicians. So to blame the
For example, the popularity of flammable refrigerants. The risk is real! R-600a is an isobutane, a flammable substance like you might find in a cigarette lighter.
A couple of KEY items, reading between the lines: https://www.csb.gov/assets/1/6/cuisine_solutions_investigation_update_-_final_to_publish1.pdf
The Courier-Journal has released more photos. Below is my analysis of these photos, using their and Google Maps road images. The first image below is the PRE-EXPLOSION image. In it, we can see the two (2) standing cooling towers/condensers. The one in the blue box is the one that was destroyed and came to rest
A few years ago, I put forth the idea that workers pass through the 3 Cs in their decision-making process as they learn to take more and more risks. Those three (3) Cs were: That article stirred quite a bit of debate among the SAFTENG community and so I thought it was time to share
For each one of my Advanced SMS courses, I always start the course by having the students list the 16 Elements of the SAFTENG Safety Process/SMS in order of importance. I tell them there is no right or wrong answer. Over the past couple of years, I began to keep the answers to the questions
This week, we saw a fatal explosion in Louisville, KY. This same facility, albeit under a previous ownership, had a catastrophic failure of a PV in 2003. The photos coming out of the post-analysis of this week’s event look to be a similar type of explosion. CLICK HERE to see the pics. Here is my
Inspections As of the 3rd quarter of the fiscal year (Q3), EPA completed 133 CAA Section 112(r) (Risk Management Program) inspections. Enforcement Cases As of the 3rd quarter of the fiscal year (Q3), EPA took action at 73 facilities to decrease the likelihood of chemical accidents. Sasol Chemicals: In April 2024, EPA finalized a settlement
This is one of the most requested presentations I use when working with C-Suite Executives and Senior Safety Leadership.
