MANY THANKS to my NEW & RENEWING “Partners in Safety” for their support! since 2008 since 2008 since 2012 since 2012 2012 Fatality Tracker Electrical 58 (2011 = 81) (2010 = 90) (2009 = 100) Forklift/Manlift Mobile Equipment 42 (2011 = 84) (2010 = 110) (2009 = 88) Mining 63 (2011 = 248) (2010 = 480) (2009 = 586) Explosions 186 (2011 = 218) (2010...

AMMONIA FATALITY (a worker at a winery has died after being exposed to ammonia – one of the workers accidentally opened a wrong valve and released ammonia into a confined area – the man was one of six workers exposed – the other workers tried to rescue the man but were unable to get to him because of the fumes – he died at the scene – the other employees were treated and...

This is an excellent presentation showing what is believed to have happened leading up to and after the Amuay Refinery Vapor Cloud Explosion on 8/25/12.  Excellent modeling, but based on assumption, showing how a vapor cloud progresses.  To date, the loss of life now exceeds 50 with many more severly burned.  The off-site devistation was massive!  (souce listed in presentation) UPDATE...

Doing some work for a client regarding fall protection on “order pickers” I came across this neat calculator for calculating  a new load center capacity. … HomeRead More »

Identifying human error is a starting point, not a conclusion. If we aim to learn from the error and to lessen the chances of it happening again, we need to consider the organizational context that surrounds the person’s action, including equipment, procedures, people, the environment, and management. There are two aspects to managing error: … HomeRead More »

Although I did not post the “alert” to the left referencing the Miller Harnesses, I have received it several times in the past 2-3 weeks from many SAFTENG members.  Each alert I received had a new twist to it and was missing some basic info that Miller had always included in their alerts/stop-use/recall notices in the past, such as a contact person, phone number, and e-mail address....

We have all heard the term before, but what exactly did OSHA and EPA really mean when they stated that “human factors” must be part of a Process Hazards Analysis (PHA)? In the USA, we can look to OSHA’s PSM Compliance Directive, CPL 02-045, to get an idea of what we should consider “human factors” when doing our PHA(s). Such factors may include a review of operator/process...

UPDATED 9/11/12 with CCTV video footage showing the steam release, followed by the flash fire, followed by te dark smoke.   … HomeRead More »

  MANY THANKS to my NEW & RENEWING “Partners in Safety” for their support! since 2008 since 2008 since 2012 since 2012 2012 Fatality Tracker Electrical 58 (2011 = 81) (2010 = 90) (2009 = 100) Forklift/Manlift Mobile Equipment 41 (2011 = 84) (2010 = 110) (2009 = 88) Mining 62 (2011 = 248) (2010 = 480) (2009 = 586) Explosions 181 (2011 = 218) (2010...

A Muskegon-area chemical company is facing a federal penalty for failing to report an ammonia release on Labor Day to the proper authorities in a timely manner.  The 1400-pound leak was well over the federal limit that requires an immediate report. By law, any release into the air of the hazardous gas over 100 pounds must be reported to federal, state and local government agencies right away....

The National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors has released the Violation Findings Second Quarter Report for 2012. The report is based on 48 reports from 30 jurisdictions and consists of 140,309 inspections revealing 15,304 violations. This is an 11% violation rate.  Boiler Controls is the category with the highest number of violations, reporting 4,740. Boiler Piping and Other Systems...

The US Department of Transportation (DOT) and Transport Canada (TC) publish the Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG), which provides valuable information to first responders during the initial phase of a dangerous goods/hazardous materials transportation incident. A new edition of this guidebook is published every four years, the most recent edition being published in 2012. There are some...