About Mike Schmidt

With a career in the CPI that began in 1977 with Union Carbide, Mike was profoundly impacted by the 1984 tragedy in Bhopal and has been working on process safety ever since.

Insanity: Another Ammonium Nitrate Explosion

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — First said by an anonymous member of Al-Anon in Knoxville, Tennessee I have a dream. In my dream, following a terrible chemical disaster that mimics other terrible chemical disasters, officials don’t wring their hands and talk about how their thoughts [...]

By |2025-01-17T09:45:57-06:00August 13th, 2020|Chemicals, Current Events|Comments Off on Insanity: Another Ammonium Nitrate Explosion

Previous Incidents: Learning from Mistakes

“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.”  — Henry Ford I know a young woman whose relationships are in a constant state of turmoil. She keeps picking the wrong guys and each relationship ends in heartbreak. “Why do I keep making the same mistake over and over?” Why indeed? I [...]

By |2025-01-17T09:46:47-06:00July 30th, 2020|Chemicals, PHA, Process Safety, Process Safety Management|Comments Off on Previous Incidents: Learning from Mistakes

Choosing Safety: Is That How We Roll?

“I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.”  — Maya Angelou Many St. Louis drivers view stop signs as suggestions; they don’t see a full stop is either required or expected. And this isn’t just young hooligans in muscle cars. It includes little old ladies in [...]

By |2020-07-23T14:39:39-05:00July 23rd, 2020|Process Safety, Process Safety Management|Comments Off on Choosing Safety: Is That How We Roll?

Workplace Safety: As Good As It Gets?

“What if this is as good as it gets?”  — Jack Nicholson as Melvin Udall in As Good As It Gets, directed by James L. Brooks The year 2009 was first time I ever studied a graph of work-related fatality rates in the U.S. The data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was available for [...]

By |2025-01-17T09:48:16-06:00July 9th, 2020|Current Events, Workplace Safety|2 Comments

In the Midst of a Pandemic: Fourth of July Safety

“Fourth of July is not cancelled this year…it will just look a little different.”  — Megan Willgoos I love fireworks displays. Especially those with big finales. As a safety professional, a homeowner, and a dog lover, though, I hate recreational fireworks. People suffer life-altering injuries, homes and other buildings are set afire, and man’s best [...]

By |2025-01-17T09:49:16-06:00July 2nd, 2020|Current Events|Comments Off on In the Midst of a Pandemic: Fourth of July Safety

Breaking the Law: Conservation of Recklessness

“Be afraid. Be very afraid.”  — Geena Davis as Veronica Quaife in The Fly, directed by David Cronenburg Try as we might, we safety professionals cannot make people want to be safe. The challenge then, is to make them safer than they want to be. The Law of Conservation of Recklessness There is not officially [...]

By |2025-01-17T09:50:12-06:00June 25th, 2020|Process Safety, Process Safety Management, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Breaking the Law: Conservation of Recklessness

Why We Wear Masks

“The amount of misinformation on the Internet – especially on Facebook and especially during times of crisis – is staggering.”  — Benjamin Franklin We’ve returned to work here, although anyone who wishes to continue to work from home may. People stay separated, maintaining social distancing. The chairs in the break room are up on the [...]

By |2025-01-17T09:51:21-06:00June 18th, 2020|Current Events, Workplace Safety|1 Comment

PPE: It’s Not Personal

“The right to swing my fist ends where the other man’s nose begins.”  — John B. Finch I have mixed feelings about motorcycle helmets and mandatory helmet laws. As a safety professional, I know that they reduce the likelihood of head injuries and want to see motorcyclists wearing them. As a student of psychology and [...]

By |2025-01-17T09:52:18-06:00June 11th, 2020|Current Events, Procedures, Workplace Safety|1 Comment

When Opportunity Knocks: Hand Sanitizer and Process Safety

“Be adventurists in the sense of being bold and daring. Be opportunists and seize this opportunity, this moment in history, to go out and save our country. It’s your turn now.”  — Abbie Hoffman Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, we’ve been contacted several times by firms that are planning to jump into the business of [...]

By |2025-01-17T09:55:30-06:00May 28th, 2020|Chemicals, Current Events, Process Safety|Comments Off on When Opportunity Knocks: Hand Sanitizer and Process Safety

Whose Fault? What to Do with Crazy

“Minimizing your exposure to pathology goes a long, long way.”  — Dr. Susan Biali Haas When a sensor faults, it doesn’t stop providing information. It’s just unreliable information. It may be correct, it may not, but it is not to be believed.  Like a clock that has stopped but is still correct twice a day, [...]

By |2025-01-17T09:57:58-06:00May 14th, 2020|Process Safety, Process Safety Management|Comments Off on Whose Fault? What to Do with Crazy
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