It is being said that the fatal explosion that killed a 35-year-old battalion chief while operating at a tractor-trailer fire was a “smoke explosion.” The investigation continues, looking at other fuel sources, such as the foam insulation in the trailer. They have ruled out a BLEVE. A sample of rigid foam insulation from the trailer […]
Last week I posted the investigation findings from a triple fatality event near my hometown that was caused by a 70+-year-old LPG cylinder that was 33 years PAST its recertification/requalification date AND was overfilled. Now the BSEE has shared a SAFETY ALERT regarding a Nitrogen Compressed Gas cylinder that catastrophically failed injuring three (3) workers
Nine (9) grain dust explosions in 2024 in the USA caused two (2) injuries and NO fatalities. These numbers are similar to last year’s (nine explosions, 12 injuries, and no fatalities) and on par with the 10-year national average of 8.6 explosions. The explosions occurred in:
Three People Died Due to the Blast The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) released a new safety video on its investigation into the January 24, 2020, fatal propylene release and explosion at the Watson Grinding and Manufacturing Company facility in Houston, Texas. The massive explosion resulted in the death of two workers
Last week, we saw the devastation of a catastrophic failure of a pressure vessel (PV) in Louisville, KY. We still do not know the cause of this failure, just that it was a “cook vessel #6. SAFTENG members can see my breakdown of the photographic evidence available from the Courrier Journal (local Louisville newspaper). But
On Thursday, July 5th, 1973 at approximately 1:30 pm, two employees of Droxol Propane were in the process of off-loading the contents of the 127 kl (33,500 gal) railroad tank car into two propane storage tanks. When the valves were opened, one of the connections was discovered to be leaking. One of the employees attempted
