“You may reasonably expect a man to walk a tightrope safely for ten minutes; it would be unreasonable to do so without accident for two hundred years.” — Bertrand Russell Many of us face a dilemma when it comes to fall hazards. Particularly when it comes to maintenance. The hazards are unavoidable, the consequences of [...]
“The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 is repealed. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is abolished.” — the complete text of Section 2 of H.R. 86, introduced by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) I’m not really sure what Andy Biggs hoped to accomplish by introducing his “Nullify Occupational Safety and Health Administration Act” (NOSHA [...]
“Unnecessary noise is the most cruel absence of care that can be inflicted on the sick or the well.” — Florence Nightingale I grew up in an age of loud rock ‘n roll. I, like one in six people of my generation, suffer some hearing loss. To save the hearing that I still have, I [...]
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.” — George Bernard Shaw Because of the work we do, we often hear about OSHA requirements that don’t actually exist. Something akin to, “Well, OSHA says you have to…” Occasionally, they are right. More often though, the requirement fulfills someone’s agenda and OSHA is the [...]
“Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping, into the future.” — Steve Miller The Process Safety Management (PSM) standard, 29 CFR 1910.119, states in (e)(6) that “At least every five (5) years after the completion of the initial process hazard analysis, the process hazard analysis shall be updated and revalidated by a team meeting the requirements [...]
“The issue is that heat can cause metals (and other materials) to expand – and in the cold, to contract – which in turn can impact whether a part is in or out of spec.” — Barbara Osborne You probably understand the idea of thermal expansion: when materials warm up, their atoms vibrate faster, so [...]
“The hardest thing is writing a recommendation for someone we know.” — Kin Hubbard We’ve all heard, over and over, that data without analysis is useless. Well, analysis without recommendations is just as useless. Unfortunately, many young engineers are incredible analysts but then mistakenly believe that their analysis will stand on its own, that the [...]
“Recycling lithium-ion batteries is a complex and inherently risky process.” — Brian O’Connor, NFPA Recently, a lithium-ion battery-powered Cybertruck exploded outside of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. It wasn't the Li-ion batteries that exploded, though. It was a cargo of fuel and fireworks. In the case of the Li-ion battery recycling plant in [...]
“Same as it ever was…Same as it ever was…Same as it ever was…Same as it ever was…Same as it ever was…” — David Byrne, Talking Heads I had such fears. I feared that after seeing the work-related fatality rate climb for two years in a row, we were going to see it climb once again, [...]
“Although OSHA does not have a specific standard that covers working in cold environments, employers have a duty to protect workers from recognized hazards, including cold stress hazards.” — OSHA Winter Weather notice While we have had days that are unseasonably warm, there have already been days that were bitterly cold. And we haven’t even [...]
