EDMONTON, Oct. 19, 2013 /CNW/ – The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) deploys a team of investigators to the site of a rail accident west of Edmonton in Gainford, Alberta. The CN train derailed 13 cars including 4 units carrying petroleum crude oil and 9 units carrying liquefied petroleum gas. TSB will gather information and assess the occurrence. The TSB is an independent agency...

This incident information refers to an accident that occurred onboard an offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico during maintenance and repair operations to clean several production vessels, including a high-pressure separator, the floatation cell, the wet-oil tank, and two stacked low-pressure separators, upper and lower. A flash fire ignited within one of the vessel’s...

Right after doing our site Confined Space assessment, OSHA says that we must identify spaces deemed to be Permit-Required Confined Spaces.  Many facilities order hundreds of signs to put on their spaces at a pretty penny… in other words; it ain’t cheap to label these spaces!  So one would think that the labeling/marking would be done properly.  Take the image to the left… anyone see...

NFPA® recently released its latest edition of the NFPA Glossary of Terms (GOT). The GOT is a list of the defined terms in all of NFPA’s published codes, standards, guides and recommended practices. The 14,575 terms are listed alphabetically and assembled into a free PDF. The document is used in a number of ways. It helps NFPA Technical Committees who are looking to define new terms or compare...

 

  2015 Fatality Tracker Electrical 6 (2014 =55) (2013 = 32) (2012 = 68) Forklift/Aerial 2 (2014 = 60) (2013=62) (2012 = 52) Mining* 0 (2014 = 401) (2013=87*) (2012 = 92*) *ONLY USA Explosions 42 (2014 = 157) (2013=194) (2012 = 241) Cranes 0 (2014 = 20) (2013=51) (2012 = 52) Falls 4 (2014 = 97) (2013=106) (2012 = 99) Work Zone 1 (2014 = 33) (2013=42) (2012 = 62) Trenching 0 (2014 = 20) (2013=25) (2012...

Yes. A facility closure may be considered a material modification to a covered facility. In this case, the facility must complete and submit a revised Top-Screen to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) within 60 days of the material modification (i.e., its closure), in accordance with 6 C.F.R. § 27.210(d), available at http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=&SID=5490ca42ba3517c7c9aec9c47cefc750&r=PART&n=6y1.0.1.1.11....

PHMSA is amending the Hazardous Materials Regulations to maintain alignment with international standards by incorporating various amendments, including changes to proper shipping names, hazard classes, packing groups, special provisions, packaging authorizations, air transport quantity limitations, and vessel stowage requirements. These revisions are necessary to harmonize the Hazardous Materials Regulations...

2/4/2015 UPDATE After many lengthy discussions with engineers and inspectors I have come to the conclusion that although this practice may be permitted by code, albeit by a five-word phrase in an interpretation, most engineers stated they would NOT use a dual stamped vessel unless it was careful analyzed via a PHA or detailed engineering review.  All those who I have communicated with said they...

One of the more common omissions in SOPs is the inclusion of all the “safety systems and their functions” involved in the execution of the SOP.  In this article, I will use the task of Truck/Railcar Unloading a Flammable Liquid to demonstrate the types of safety systems and their functions that may need to be included in the Unloading SOP. … HomeRead More »

Yes, it is true… 1910.119(g)(2) states “Refresher training shall be provided at least every three years, and more often if necessary…” Please take note that the phrase “at least every” is used preceding the 3-year frequency, as well as OSHA explicitly states “more often if necessary”.  In my 20+ years of developing, implementing and managing process...