Earlier this year I was asked to participate in an incident review involving a flashfire/explosion in a tote-filling process. (NOTE: the official term is an Intermediate Bulk Container or IBC) As I have written about many times, the #1 cause of these flash fires/explosions inside a container/vessel is the generation of static electricity; but this incident occurred in a tote was that “purged...

At approximately 10:40 a.m. on April 2, 2019, the housing of a three-inch Y-strainer of an isobutylene line that fed into reactor K8 ruptured and isobutylene was released, forming a vapor cloud. Three employees responded to mitigate the isobutylene vapor in the reactor area. As Employee #1 was at an old control room area and Employee #2 was approaching a tank farm area away from reactors K8 and K9,...

Over my career in S&H and Emergency Response, I have seen the proliferation of “on-line” training get out of control in the past 10 years.  Seems the sellers have sold the on-line delivery method as the “silver bullet” – the answer to all the training woes within an organization.  Heck even OSHA has allowed some of their outreach training to be done on-line. ...

On or about August 10, 2018, representatives of the EPA conducted an inspection of Respondent’s Facility to determine compliance with Section 112(r) of the CAA and 40 C.F.R. Part 68. Information gathered during the EPA inspection revealed that Respondent had the capacity to store 650,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia at the Facility, and regularly stored greater than 300,000 pounds of anhydrous...

This past May an employee was filling a nurse tank with anhydrous ammonia and noticed a small leak at the hose coupling.  He attempted to tighten the coupling and while doing so the coupling popped off and he was exposed to NH3 vapors.  … HomeRead More »

Gas Station Attendant scrubbing with gasoline!!  It may be kerosene, but it is a fuel that is he spraying (splashing) onto the pavement and then spreading it out with a broom which in all likelihood is creating static.  How and Why it did not ignite makes me wonder if he was using some other fuel than gasoline.  But this is not the fist time we have seen gasoline used to clean up diesel...

Traditional, static exit signs have been a staple in buildings for decades, but some safety experts are beginning to advocate for newer, more dynamic technologies to help us exit buildings safely during emergencies. In this episode of Learn Something New by NFPA Journal®, we explore the new concept of dynamic exit signage. Subscribe to this NFPA YouTube feed

This past week we got a “Factual Update” from the CSB on the Storage Tank Fire at Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) Terminal. After reading this update I was puzzled as to why the facts as we know them to date did not drive OSHA to open a NEP PSM inspection of the facility. Granted their tanks are atmospheric storage tanks and thus exempted under 1910.119(a)(1)(ii)(B); however, the...

On 21 July 2018, a major release of ammonia gas occurred at a Western Australian port. As part of standard operation, an ammonia tanker vessel was supplying anhydrous ammonia to a process plant. Following the completion of liquid ammonia unloading, purging of the loading arm and pipework was commenced with ammonia gas supplied by the ship via the onboard storage tank headspace. While the purging operation...

Last week I shared this OSHRC case as a “cultural example” of how a management team tries to move on from a Safety Manager leaving the facility and their duties were passed on to the HR manager who had no S&H experience or training, so they hire an outside safety consultant to help with LOTO citations from OSHA.  This is a technical review of the LOTO citations, Egress citations,...

Last week I shared this OSHRC case as a “cultural example” of how a management team tries to move on from a Safety Manager leaving the facility and their duties were passed on to the HR manager who had no S&H experience or training, so they hire an outside safety consultant to help with LOTO citations from OSHA.  This is a technical review of the LOTO citations, Egress citations,...

Lesson’s learned:  A WRONG CHEMICAL – WRONG TANK incident produced a chlorine release and brought EPA to the facility.  The EPA inspection does not appear to have looked at the Cl2 incident, but rather stayed focused on the propylene oxide process – their “covered process”.  As well, in March of this year both the facility and the trucking company involved...