In recent years, we have seen many facilities begin to fill their own PIT LPG cylinders on-site rather than contract this service out. Typically, we find this “change” was poorly managed: no PPE Hazard Assessment, no (or very poor) training on the task, LPG improperly located, improper electrical classification around the LPG tank and the filling station, etc.  This comes down to management...

During my time in the process industry, we usually had a “caustic scrubber” attached to our PSM/RMP covered process(s).  This meant this scrubber was “part of” the covered process.  I get a lot of pushback regarding covering “safety critical utilities” that are in place to either PREVENT, PROTECT, or MITIGATE an event from the covered process, but for me,...

We routinely discuss the challenges and risks of performing Line/Equipment Opening (LEO) tasks, with one of the top 5 challenges being the “means used to verify” the pipe/equipment is at a Zero-Energy-State (ZES).  The factors that occurred in this incident probably happens by the hour in the process industry; it is why we ALWAYS have on a layer of PPE that will protect us when this...

Looking at the contractor involved with the refinery H2S incident last week, I came across another refinery accident involving H2S where this contractor had their employees exposed.  I have no special info on this latest incident, and I will let the media release the name of the contractor, but this 1998 incident was being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Another contractor company...

October 15, 2024 MEMORANDUM FOR: REGIONAL ADMINISTRATORS STATE DESIGNEES THROUGH: AMANDA L. EDENS, Deputy Assistant Secretary FROM: SCOTT C. KETCHAM, Director Directorate of Enforcement Programs SUBJECT: Inspection Guidance for Animal Slaughtering and Processing Establishments This memorandum establishes guidance for inspections conducted in all animal slaughtering and processing establishments,...

Regardless of what CSB highlights in this video… TORQUE VALUES MATTER and having your Emergency Escape Respirator on your person all played a role in this accident! Also, SIMOPS is a term discussed the video.  CLICK HERE to see a great, and FREE, safety document explaining SIMOPS from our friends at the CCPS. I also implore you to read my 87 articles on “Line Breaking”, several...

This case is interesting, as I have always challenged the concept that an engine room (membership required)with large roll-up utility doors and windows and personnel/fire doors that are found propped open more often than not would contain the “catastrophic release of NH3”.  It seems this EPA inspector was one who attended one of my 5-Day Advanced Process Safety courses, and I was able...

If we spend enough time in chemical plants, we will encounter a widespread, albeit severe, human failure regarding a “safety-critical instrument.”  I am referring to the IMPROPER placement of personal gas monitors.  Nine times out of 10, where do we find these personal gas monitors on the worker’s body?  I am betting your experiences are similar to mine and you would...

This case is interesting, as I have always challenged the concept that an engine room (membership required)with large roll-up utility doors and windows and personnel/fire doors that are found propped open more often than not would contain the “catastrophic release of NH3”.  It seems this EPA inspector was one who attended one of my 5-Day Advanced Process Safety courses, and I was able...

Regardless of what CSB highlights in this video… TORQUE VALUES MATTER and having your Emergency Escape Respirator on your person all played a role in this accident! Also, SIMOPS is a term discussed the video.  CLICK HERE to see a great, and FREE, safety document explaining SIMOPS from our friends at the CCPS. I also implore you to read my 87 articles on “Line Breaking”, several...

A flash fire broke out at 626 Lynnway on Monday morning after a worker with a private demo company cut a pipe, according to the Fire Department’s Public Information Officer. The worker was transferred to a Hospital with “minor burns.” The worker is expected to make a full recovery.  The worker was carried out of the building to the ambulance by other workers, who helped tend to injuries...

A bloody episode in a long war introduces the idea that defenses designed to protect against one kind of hazard can render their users prey to other kinds of danger, usually not foreseen by those who created them or even appreciated by those who use them. In short, defenses can be dangerous. This is no less true now—in the age of high-technology systems—than in 1415. On a damp late October morning...