Here are the official numbers from The Chlorine Institute: … HomeRead More »

The phase-down and restriction of the most common and widely used refrigerants was initiated in the late 1980’s and has spurred innovation, both for the alternative refrigerants that have been introduced as well as in the equipment that uses them. Safety Group A2L refrigerants (lower toxicity and lower flammability) represent the most recent in the focus of deployable reduced GWP/zero ODP refrigerants....

I will give these guys this credit… they make great videos for the ammonia refrigeration industry.  But as a safety professional, I was appalled at some of their actions and lack of safety while watching two of their videos.  This particular video shows two (2) workers removing and replacing an NH3 valve – a clear “line break” task.  One of my biggest beef with...

After nearly 20 years in ER specializing in large-scale incidents, I can say that with this news I am sorry I got out of the work when I did.  This addition to the rails of the USA will be a fun and wild addition.  LNG—referred to as “Methane, refrigerated liquid”  within the HMR—has been transported safely by trucks on highways and by marine vessels for over 40 years in the United States,...

I see this practice, keeping cylinders in-service beyond their hydro due dates, and I just want to make everyone aware that although this practice may be complaint with 49 CFR Part 180, it sets up the Emergency Response Team (ERT) with a potentially serious Breathing Air (BA) issue during a response.  There are two failures, both are quite common finds during our ER audits/assessments, that come...

This week I shared a serious chlorine incident that sent seven (7) people to the hospital, including firefighters and neighbors.  This incident could have been managed very easily and with much fewer impacts on responders and the community had the facility followed basic RAGAGEP requirements for their 1-ton chlorine containers.  Basically, the leak was on a fusible plug in the liquid phase...

We have discussed hydrostatic testing of all sorts of containers, most notably our SCBA cylinders and our process piping.  But one very important cylinder I do not mention near enough is the 1-ton Chlorine cylinders.  All chlorine cylinders, except DOT 3E 1800, MUST BE HYDROSTATICALLY TESTED EVERY FIVE-YEARS from the date of the previous hydro test (49 CFR Parts 100-185).  The DOT 3E...

A company was fined $200,000 for a chlorine leak incident on Sept 4, 2016, in which seven people were taken to hospital. The incident involved a chlorine leak in a cylinder stored in a chlorine storage facility. The leak triggered an alarm from one of the facility’s chlorine detectors and a worker activated the chlorine gas emergency scrubber and exhaust system. Two workers donned protective...

RECOMMENDATIONS The NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP) recommends that fire departments ensure all firefighters responding to natural gas or propane incidents: use gas detection equipment and do not rely upon their sense of smell to determine if propane or natural gas is present understand that the odorant in natural gas or propane can fade are trained on the...

This week another RMP Reconsideration Final Rule requirement was born.  Many of you had already made the necessary changes to your written management system way back in December 2019, but for those of you that put things off to the last minute… well that last minute just came and is now gone!  So what exactly changed this week? (emphasis by me) … HomeRead More »

Recently we witnessed an electrical work perform a lockout on a piece of equipment that was not starting during the start-up phase of the process.  This piece of equipment was absolutely critical for the process to run safely so this worker and the facility personnel witnessing this as well failed to recognize a CRITICAL mistake he made in his “means to verify a zero energy state”.  ...

  March 12, 2021 MEMORANDUM FOR:  REGIONAL ADMINISTRATORS STATE PLAN DESIGNEES  THROUGH AMANDA EDENS Deputy Assistant Secretary FROM: PATRICK J. KAPUST, Acting Director Directorate of Enforcement Programs  SUBJECT:  Updated Interim Enforcement Response Plan for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) This Updated Interim Enforcement Response Plan for Coronavirus Disease...