In almost all of the accident investigations I have been asked to participate in, the local management team was very quick to blame “active failures”.  This almost always involves some blame being placed on the human; after all, they were directly involved, and had they “not made the mistakes,” the accident would not have occurred.  Hard to argue with such blatant...

Accident causation models were originally developed in order to assist people who had to investigate occupational accidents so that such accidents could be investigated effectively.  Knowing how accidents are caused is also useful in a proactive sense in order to identify what types of failures or errors generally cause accidents. So action can be taken to address these failures before they have...

Without TRUST, safety doesn’t stand a chance! Companies require employees to attend annual “ethics training.” Behind the scenes, the company is lying to all its stakeholders. First, it was VW and now FCA (formerly Chrysler). And companies can’t seem to understand why their safety cultural surveys are always pointing to a lack of TRUST as a major cultural barrier. And those same...

I have been referring SAFTENG members to subscribe to the “Bulletin,” a FREE publication from the National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors.   This publication is an EXCELLENT resource for those safety professionals dealing with pressure vessel safety, especially those in the process safety arena.  Their latest edition covers two (2) very significant changes...

To be blunt on a serious matter, MOST balers I have come across are indeed a PRCS.  Some can easily be reconfigured in order to reclassify using some simple LOTO practices to eliminate the hazard AND to open them up (LOCKED OPEN) which would put the tasks as a “maintenance task” and not an “entry into a PRCS.”  This week OSHA posted a $337,903 citation involving the...

Why so many try to make such a simple safety process so difficult has puzzled me for years!  Even in Group LOTO, each employee is protected by the LOTO MUST have EXCLUSIVE CONTROL of the devices protecting them.  It is that simple.  This organization should be embarrassed for asking these questions, especially when their scenarios involve only three (3) authorized employees. Scenario...

Often people tend to think that using electronics or technology automatically falls into the realm of an “engineering control” rather than an administrative control.  Today’s local news story is a perfect example of this.  We have this overpass in Cincinnati that is notorious for catching trucks.  I have a local client that I would spend 1-week each month doing work...

A federal workplace safety investigation into a Jan. 19, 2022, ammonia leak that hospitalized two workers and led to the evacuation of about 50 workers at a Canton poultry processing plant found their employer might have prevented the incident by ensuring required safety standards were followed. OSHA found the uncontrolled temperature and pressure conditions on an ammonia refrigeration system contributed...

Sometimes it is nice to be validated, even if it is by the government (who sets the minimum performance standards) and about 28 years late!  But OSHA has finally made it clear in an LOI that a “single line valve is not permitted for isolation of hazards during entry“… Background: An employer has installed a single knife gate valve equipped with a bleed valve at the bottom of...

This video explains Dr. Reason’s Human Failure model that most industries, especially aviation and chemical processing, have been using my entire career.  It does a very nice job explaining the types of human failures and their differences.  Members can read my 2012 article “Causes of Human Failure” to get a more detailed explanation and to see the full flow chart and worksheet...

On May 14, 2022, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) conducted a full-scale shell impact test (Test 13) of a DOT-113C120W9 (also identified as DOT-113) specification tank car at the Transportation Technology Center (TTC) in Pueblo, CO. This test was the final impact test in a planned series of four. A DOT-113 is a double-walled tank car (i.e., tank-within-a-tank) designed to transport authorized...

How many times have you paused before entering a high-noise area to put in your hearing protection, only to get strange looks like, “WTH is taking you so long?” Most workers and even a fair amount of safety professionals do not understand the “subtract 7” approach when performing the attenuation evaluation.  The “subtract 7” approach is because the actual NRR...