I am sharing this citation as Nitrogen (N2) use is becoming more and more popular in businesses that often times may not have the level of safety necessary to store and handle this level of hazardous materials. I have personally seen N2 being used in personal grooming services and microbrewing and now this was a bull “stud” facility where I am guessing they were freezing the sperm. Some of you may recall the 2017 incident a couple of years back at a human sperm bank that killed deputy sheriff and critically injured a supervisor of the business. See: Georgia’s Insurance & Safety Fire Commission issues Pressure Vessel Code violations following Nitrogen Fatality ($302K).
Nitrogen is a very very hazardous chemical, one where a basic HAZCOM program and training will NOT suffice. I liked this citation from OSHA because they offer several means as to how the hazards from liquid nitrogen can be managed. If a business is NOT willing to take these measures, then that should answer the question…
“Can we safely manage liquid nitrogen?”
OSHA has cited a bull stud facility for exposing workers to hazardous chemicals and toxic substances after an employee fatality. The company faces penalties of $122,602 for two willful and three serious violations. OSHA received an employer-reported referral that an employee asphyxiated from lack of oxygen due to the use of liquid nitrogen in the facility. Inspectors found that employees filled containers daily and cryogenic freezers weekly with liquid nitrogen. OSHA determined the company failed to implement safety measures, such as oxygen monitoring or ventilation to ensure that the rapidly expanding liquid nitrogen did not displace the oxygen in the room. Additionally, the company failed to train employees on potential health and physical hazards from working with nitrogen gas, and on how to detect the accumulation and release of the gas. Here is a breakdown of the citations:
NOTE: I am working on an article on using my favorite code, The International Fire Code, to design our Cryogenic systems and management needs.