The arrangement below is very common in processes/systems. This simple yet common arrangement causes havoc in hazard analyses. As the title states, is this arrangement managed with a Temporary SOP, a Car-Seal, or Both? The issue is that the motorized valve is tied to a Hi-Hi level alarm and interlock. When the vessel archives its…...
I think most EHS professionals will agree that bulk tanks of hazardous materials need some means of “secondary containment”. This practice has been in place for my entire career and rarely gets challenged. However, in recent years I have come across several scenarios where either the facility/unit designed the process to function this way or…...
Today, the CSB released a second update on its ongoing investigation into the fatal hydrogen sulfide (H2S) release that occurred on October 10, 2024, at the PEMEX Deer Park Refinery in Deer Park, Texas. Two contract workers died during the incident, and over 27,000 pounds of toxic hydrogen sulfide gas were released. Local authorities issued…...
We see this far too often… a management system failure related to 3-year PSM/RMP audits. A company with multiple facilities should be “trending” its 3-year audit findings to IDENTIFY opportunities for improvement across the company. I did this years ago when I was a member of the Corporate EHS Team for a semi-conductor. And was…...
We MUST never be too confident of our written SOPs/JSAs. There is a good reason why “Administrative Controls” are down on the Hierarchy of Controls. When we think our SOPs/Plans are infallible, our workers will show us a thing or two… And when we investigate adverse events and this leads us to “failure to follow…...
On January 7, 1983, at approximately 12:15 am EST, a massive explosion, ignited by an overflowing gasoline storage tank at the Texaco storage facility in Newark, NJ, and a nearby incinerator, destroyed three tanks, killing one person and injuring 24, while the blast was felt up to 100 miles away. Cause:The explosion was said to…...
ATF Louisville said it has definitively identified the origin of last week’s deadly plant explosion. The investigation led them to the origin of the explosion: Cooking Vessel No. 6 on the South side of the facility. They can say that the vessel failed definitively… it was likely an issue with overpressurization. Some of that vessel
