As a process safety professional, what do we see and what comes to mind when we see a pipe flange like the one shown here? In this small and simple picture, how many sections of OSHA’s PSM standard (or EPA’s RMP rule) impact this pipe flange; better yet, can we name all the RGAGEPS that would impact this pipe flange? Look closely as this is sort of a “special” flange! Can we tell what may be traveling via this pipe based on what we see in this picture?
In this article, I want to use this simple pipe flange to demonstrate how a flange in our piping has such a HUGE impact on process safety. I will point out some items and pose questions and over the next several weeks I will expand on these topics in the hopes that more process safety practitioners may be able to see process safety as a proverbial onion that we can peel back layer by layer.