A chemical company in Ohio has agreed to correct deficiencies in its risk management plan as part of a settlement with Ohio EPA.  The company produces detergent-grade sulfonic acid, synthetic detergents, surfactants and emulsifiers. As part of its process, it uses sulfur dioxide and sulfur trioxide.  During an October 2004 inspection, Ohio EPA determined that the facility had seven violations...

A Cincinnati foods plant has agreed to correct repeated deficiencies in its risk management plan as part of a settlement with Ohio EPA.  The company cooks, packages and sells chicken parts. The facility keeps approximately 46,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia onsite to be used in the refrigeration process.  A 2004 Ohio EPA inspection found 10 rule violations. No penalty was assessed but the...

MANY THANKS to my RENEWING Partners in Safety   2013 Fatality Tracker Electrical 25 (2012 = 68) (2011 = 81) (2010 = 90) (2009 = 100) Forklift/Manlift 53 (2012 = 52) (2011 = 84) (2010 = 110) (2009 = 88) Mining* 68 (2012 = 92*)  (2011 = 248) (2010 = 480) (2009 = 586) *no longer includes China accidents Explosions 149 (2012 = 241) (2011 = 218) (2010 = 246) (2009 = 302) Cranes 36 (2012 = 52)...

PHMSA is issuing this safety advisory to notify the public of the unauthorized marking of high pressure compressed gas cylinders by Beauchesne Fire Equipment located at 21 Freeman St. Attleboro Falls, MA. Agents from the U.S. DOT Inspector General’s Office in Cambridge, MA, with assistance from a PHMSA investigator from the Eastern Region Field Operations Office, recently conducted an investigation...

   

 A recent incident involving an injury occurred while grinding a pipe stand in the main shop. An employee was grinding on a pipe stand with a hand grinder. As the employee was grinding the pipe stand; the grinding wheel exploded and hit the face shield causing damage to the face shield and hitting the employee in the right eye and face causing a laceration above the right eye, a laceration to...

For those of you who have been using Landview to estimate your populations impacted by your WCS and ARS(s), you may be a tad disappointed to learn that it appears “Landview” will no longer be available with UPDATED data!  “Landview 6” was the last update and it used the population data from the 2000 Census and there appear to be no plans to update to a Landview 7 with the...

A cold storage business has been cited for 14 safety violations and fined $132,800 by OSHA for exposing workers to anhydrous ammonia at its facility. The company has been placed in OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program.  The March inspection was initially conducted under OSHA’s high-hazard local emphasis program. It expanded to include all items within the agency’s national...

UPDATE: Many thanks to my friends who must remain nameless on my website for sharing their article on this topic.  They are MUCH more elegant than me and quite a bit more technical, but all in all we agree… not all safeguards should be counted!  For those doubting my position, you need to pay close attention to what these safety engineers have to say as what they say COUNTS!  CLICK...

The Respondent produces, processes, handles and/or stores hydrogen cyanide as part of its Adiponitrile (ADN) Unit. Adiponitrile is manufactured by reacting butadiene with hydrogen cyanide to form Pentenenitrile, which is reacted with additional hydrogen cyanide to produce the Adiponitrile. The hydrogen cyanide is processed at the facility via reaction of natural gas, ammonia and air in the presence...

On March 27,2013, EPA conducted a compliance inspection of Respondent’s facility to determine compliance with the Risk Management Plan (RMP) regulations promulgated at 40 C.F.R. part 68 under section 112(r)(7) of the Act. The EPA found that the Respondent had violated regulations implementing section 112(r)(7) of the Act by failing to comply with the specific requirements outlined in the attached...

On December 14,2010, through December 16, 2010 EPA conducted a partial compliance evaluation inspection of the refinery pursuant to Section 112 of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. §7414 to evaluate the Facility’s compliance with the requirements of 40 CFR Part 68.  Respondent uses a standard procedure for inspection of process piping systems titled Mechanical Integrity Examination and Inspection...