A male worker died on November 15, 1984, after entering a toluene storage tank. During the rescue attempt, one fireman was killed, and several were injured when the tank exploded.  A toluene storage tank (10 feet in diameter and 20 feet high) had to be drained and cleaned. While the tank was empty, the company planned to install a clean-out portal at the bottom of the tank....

 

This Instruction is intended to help Compliance Safety and Health Officers (CSHOs) safely inspect roadway and highway construction work zones and to issue consistent citations for violations. Working near fast-moving public traffic presents obvious hazards for CSHOs performing inspections.  This Instruction provides guidance for proper citation under 29 CFR 1926, Subpart G Signs, Signals, and...

(UPDATED 10/20/12) –This is to aid facilities in assigning the critical role of a Respiratory Protection Program Administrator; an often overlooked role.  OSHA requires this role to be filled by an “INDIVIDUAL” and not the “safety team”… … HomeRead More »

OSHA has cited a discount retailer with 19 serious safety and health violations at the company’s distribution center that are related to process safety management, including exposing workers to anhydrous ammonia while storing frozen products in refrigeration units. OSHA’s inspection was initiated as part of the agency’s national emphasis program on process safety management for covered...

  2012 Fatality Tracker Electrical 60 (2011 = 81) (2010 = 90) (2009 = 100) Forklift/Manlift Mobile Equipment 48 (2011 = 84) (2010 = 110) (2009 = 88) Mining 64 (2011 = 248) (2010 = 480) (2009 = 586) Explosions 227 (2011 = 218) (2010 = 246) (2009 = 302) Cranes 40 (2011 = 50) (2010 = 50) (2009 = 82) Falls 80 (2011 = 123) (2010 = 139) (2009 = 172) (2008 = 250) Work Zone 51  (2011...

Anyone who works at a business that has a formal hotwork program can recite the distance at which all fire safety requirements must be in place… 35′.  But this 35′ is a “magical number” to many who use it on a daily basis.  Don’t believe the number is “magical”?  Just go out and ask your permit approvers or your welders why the “35′...

Most have seen the amazing CCTV footage from the 2007 ammonia release from the ag business in Seward, IL, but those two videos leave a lot of questions.  This posting is a follow-up video regarding the trucking company’s clean up plan and contains a news video that gives us some perspective of the layout of the area.  In the earlier videos we see the big red barn like building  in...

I have discussed Stress Corrosion Cracking in refrigeration vessels and have been asked “if it can occur in vessels, can it occur in our piping too”.  The short answer is YES.  But I want to state again, I am NOT a metallurgist and I am not the person to contact about your SCC concerns.  I am merely attempting to pass on my learning’s to others who operate processes...

Unfortunately there are countless industrial disasters that led up to the USA’s version of Process Safety Management standards from both OSHA and EPA; but in my world of flammable liquids and gases, it was Flixborough that resonated with me.  It just seemed that every process safety or flammable liquids/gases training that I attended Flixborough always seemed to come up.  Heck even...

UPDATED on 6/4/2016  – Police investigating the accident said that the hydrofluoric acid spill might have been caused by human error as two workers unloaded the chemical from a delivery tanker. A closed-circuit security video camera recorded the two workers on top of the tanker without protective gear. They connected an air hose to a valve in the tanker to force the chemical out under...