It is becoming more common to find facilities using or at least “experimenting” with some “car seal” program or, as some call it, the “Lock Open – Lock Closed” program.  These are the programs where a valve has been identified as a safety critical valve and needs to either stay closed or open until certain procedures have been carried out.  To ensure this, the facility will either place some...

The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) has been kind enough to offer some of their emergency response related documents for FREE.  The list includes: American Industrial Hygiene Association Industrial Hygienists’ Role and Responsibilities In Emergency Preparedness and Response (06) IH Deployment Checklist  IH Role in EPR EPR IH Reference (including links to other resources) Safety...

…The HAZWOPER standard requires employers to provide training to employees who provide emergency response services during releases of hazardous substances, 29 CFR 1910.120(q)(6). The level of training the employer must provide depends on the role the employee will perform in a response. Employees must be trained to the first responder operations level if they will be part of the initial response...

Although not a new release, OR-OSHA provides a document I have used for a couple of years in my work and consulting.  OR-OSHA is of course a state plan, but from what I can tell they have adopted the federal OSHA general industry standards exactly as they are written in 29CFR 1910 (not sure about construction standards as I use these on a limited basis).  The document (.pdf) list all the...

An accident occurred when an as-yet unidentified source ignited the ethyl acetate solvent being loaded into a 330 gallon square tank, called a tote. The operator who was filling the tote had turned away momentarily when he heard what was described as a popping sound, which witnesses believe was a pressure relief device.  A fireball then erupted from the tote. Pressure from the eruption knocked...

For more information about this study, please contact Dr. Sharon M. Abel at e-mail:sharon.abel@drdc-rddc.gc.ca Results The results of this study showed that for each of the five (5) protective conditions, the noise reduction provided by earmuffs increases as frequency increases from 0.25 kHz to 1 kHz, after which there was no further increase. Five Hearing Test Conditions 1. earmuffs mounted on a hard...

OSHA has issued a letter of concern to an organization regarding their 40-hour “HAZWOPER Hands-On Simulator®” on-line training program.  OSHA states…As always, the use of interactive and video training programs as a part of an employer’s overall HAZWOPER training program is acceptable. However, an employer may not rely solely on the use of an interactive or video training...

From Liberty Mutual’s Research Institute for Safety Safety warnings are everywhere – on machinery, road signs, medication bottles, electronics, cleaning solutions, and food items…the list goes on. In the workplace, safety warnings are meant to help workers make decisions to avoid actions that could lead to injury, illness, or even death. They are an important, and often required, part...

Whenever someone is hurt in an accident, people say, “There ought to be a law!” Politicians rush to oblige them and then take credit for all the lives they saved.  But shouldn’t they also accept blame for the lives lost because of those laws?  Lives lost? Yes. A joint study by the Brookings Institution and American Enterprise Institute (http://www.aei-brookings.org/publications/abstract.php?pid=98)...

The GUIDANCE ON INVESTIGATING AND ANALYZING HUMAN AND ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS ASPECTS OF INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS is a report published by ENERGY INSTITUTE, LONDON. Simply attributing incidents/accidents to human error is not adequate; human factors aspects should be investigated such that lessons are learned to prevent recurrence. Each incident or accident is a learning opportunity, but...

What has changed in the definition of an IDLH atmosphere? NIOSH has removed the mention of the 30 minute time period, based on intraspecies variation factors. There is no mention of the 30-minutes in the new definition.  A little history about the IDLH designation…  The concept of using respirators to protect workers in situations that are immediately dangerous to life or health was...

On June 20, 2009, an ammonia line ruptured during maintenance at a poultry processing plant in Robeson County, N.C., killing one employee and injuring several others. This accident should remind employers of the hazards associated with the use of anhydrous ammonia as a refrigerant at food processing plants. Click Here (.pdf) to see and print this 2-page Alert.  If you have NH3 on site,...