One of the more common deficiencies that we find in our audits is the lack of electrical gloves testing.  1910.137, Table I-5 establishes the testing frequency for these gloves; however, the confusion comes with the “footnote” which states… If the insulating equipment has been electrically tested but not issued for service, the insulating equipment may not be placed into...

Respondent owns and operates a liquefied petroleum gas plant which handled and handles a maximum of approximately 3,548,000 pounds of propane and 761,400 pounds of butane at the Facility. EPA conducted an inspection of the Facility on October 17, 2018 to determine Respondent’s compliance with CAA Section 112(r)(l) and (7) and the Chemical Accident Prevention Provisions at 40 C.F.R. Part 68. Respondent...

The objective of this project was to conduct refrigerant R-290 (propane) leak and ignition testing under whole room-scale conditions to develop data and insight into the risks associated with the use of Class A3 Refrigerants and to generate technical data to support revisions of relevant safety standards.       The entire project included parametric testing to investigate how key...

SAFTENG NOTE:  Please do NOT misunderstand what is being said here.  This study was in NO WAY an endorsement that cell phones are safe for hazardous locations.  What is being said, is that cell phones do not cause gasoline fueling fires; which we have debunked that myth here for over a decade.  Static electricity generated by the person fueling their car is the ignition source for...

This week I was at one of my food clients who use anhydrous ammonia as their refrigerant.  This client replaced two old condensers with one bigger condenser. This new condenser came with some interesting labels, which to safety professionals, made our “assessment” of this piece of equipment relatively easy… it is a Permit-Required Confined Space.  Now, if we could only get...

Since our presentation at ASSP Safety2019! I have been getting the strangest request for clarification on how OSHA views “limited means of egress” and for the life of me, I just can’t understand why.  Yes, the GI standard for PRCS’s (1910.146) does not define the phrase; however, since 2015 OSHA’s Construction Standard for PRCS has actually defined the phrase quite...

Since our presentation at ASSP Safety2019! I have been getting the strangest request for clarification on how OSHA views “limited means of egress” and for the life of me, I just can’t understand why.  Yes, the GI standard for PRCS’s (1910.146) does not define the phrase; however, since 2015 OSHA’s Construction Standard for PRCS has actually defined the phrase quite...

When you try to include the disabled in your business and then someone wants to get fancy and upgrade the place with glass over the signs… … HomeRead More »

When you try to include the disabled in your business and then someone wants to get fancy and upgrade the place with glass over the signs… … HomeRead More »

I am not sure why I am so fascinated with the Human Factors aspect of process safety, but I blame my pals Bob and Steve at Unwin Company for beating it into my head during the first PHA I did with them way back in 1999.  They ripped me apart with how our procedures were written and taught me so much (still do today) about human factors in process safety (20 years and still learning!).  But...

I am not sure why I am so fascinated with the Human Factors aspect of process safety, but I blame my pals Bob and Steve at Unwin Company for beating it into my head during the first PHA I did with them way back in 1999.  They ripped me apart with how our procedures were written and taught me so much (still do today) about human factors in process safety (20 years and still learning!).  But...

Most anyone who has spent a day inside an industrial facility has seen a “Chicago Coupling” or as some may call it, a “crows-foot”, although they may have never heard the phrase that describes this device… Photo Source: chicagocoupling.com Having been raised as a safety engineer in the petrochem industry I learned early on that this was a [low-pressure] “water hose”...