Shelter-in-Place: What the Community Should Know

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”  — H.K.Williams On July 18, 2019, two people were injured after a chemical fire broke out at Diamond Chemical Company in East Rutherford, New Jersey.  At least one of the chemicals involved in the fire was chlorine, which is poisonous, especially as a gas.  When it [...]

By |2025-01-17T10:40:39-06:00September 5th, 2019|Chemicals, Process Safety|Comments Off on Shelter-in-Place: What the Community Should Know

H21: Is Hydrogen a Safe Fuel?

“The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.” - Harlan Ellison I first learned about H21, the project to convert the fuel gas distribution system in the North of England from natural gas to hydrogen, at a safety conference where I gave a talk on containing hydrogen deflagrations within pressure vessels. [...]

By |2019-08-08T14:23:25-05:00August 8th, 2019|Chemicals, Gas|Comments Off on H21: Is Hydrogen a Safe Fuel?

Lab Safety: A Three Phase System

“A pint of sweat will save a gallon of blood.”  George S. Patton, Jr. I intended to begin with “A good plan, well executed, is better than a perfect plan, poorly executed,” but when I checked, that’s not what General Patton said.  What he said was “A good plan, violently executed now, is better than [...]

By |2025-01-17T10:55:49-06:00May 9th, 2019|Chemicals, PHA, Procedures, Process Safety, Risk Assessment, Safety Lifecycle|Comments Off on Lab Safety: A Three Phase System

Setting Limits: Where Does Your PSM-Covered Process End?

“Human genius has limits, but stupidity does not.”  — Alexandre Dumas, fils Everyone we have ever worked with is accepting, if not downright enthusiastic, about managing process safety. Likewise, everyone we have ever worked with is no more enthusiastic about complying with Process Safety Management than they are about getting a root canal. In part, [...]

By |2025-01-17T11:01:30-06:00March 28th, 2019|Chemicals, Process Safety, Process Safety Management|Comments Off on Setting Limits: Where Does Your PSM-Covered Process End?

Do You Need a Hero? Emergency Action Plans

“Show me a hero and I’ll write you a tragedy.”  — F. Scott Fitzgerald Being a firefighter is about as safe as any typical job in the United States. Fighting house fires is safer.  Fighting industrial fires, on the other hand, is about as dangerous as the most dangerous jobs that are legal. The Dangers [...]

By |2025-01-17T11:06:22-06:00February 14th, 2019|Chemicals, PHA, Procedures, Training, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Do You Need a Hero? Emergency Action Plans

Lab Safety: Being Interested Isn’t Enough

“Once trained, the hazard often becomes a routine part of their experimentation and researchers perceive themselves to be experts in handling the hazard. Perceived familiarity can shift the awareness level from cautiousness to complacency.”  — University of California Center for Laboratory Safety It didn’t get much press.  Science reported on it, as did Chemical & [...]

By |2025-01-17T11:18:51-06:00January 3rd, 2019|Chemicals, Procedures, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Lab Safety: Being Interested Isn’t Enough

A New Enforcement Program: Ammonia and Ammonium Nitrate

“This program is an enforcement tool to emphasize the obligations under existing OSHA standards,”  – Kimberly Stille, OSHA Region VII Administrator When the West Fertilizer ammonium nitrate warehouse north of Waco, Texas caught fire and then blew up on April 17, 2013, killing 15 and injuring 160, much was made of the lack of inspections [...]

By |2025-01-17T11:33:17-06:00October 4th, 2018|Chemicals, Current Events, Process Safety, Process Safety Management|Comments Off on A New Enforcement Program: Ammonia and Ammonium Nitrate

Things We Worry About: In-plant Truck Releases

“It’s no good crying over spilt milk, because all the forces of the universe are bent on spilling it.”  —William Somerset Maugham Imagine a tank truck shows up at your plant. It’s there to make a delivery or to pick up a load. Perhaps it had to wait overnight in your lot before your shipping [...]

By |2025-01-17T11:36:24-06:00September 13th, 2018|Chemicals, Process Safety, Risk Assessment|Comments Off on Things We Worry About: In-plant Truck Releases

Arkema: A Ham Sandwich

“The district attorney could get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich if he wanted to.” Judge Sol Wachtler Arkema is a ham sandwich. A year ago, in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and the flooding that followed, we got to watch trailers loaded with organic peroxide go up in flames and billowing clouds [...]

By |2025-01-17T11:37:45-06:00September 6th, 2018|Chemicals, Current Events, Process Safety|Comments Off on Arkema: A Ham Sandwich

That’s Hazardous? Process Safety in Unexpected Places

“If you do not expect the unexpected you will not find it, for it is not to be reached by search or trail.” –Heraclitus I work for a process safety consulting company and we often participate in community events that bring members of the general public through our door.  The first question we always encounter [...]

By |2025-01-17T11:39:05-06:00August 23rd, 2018|Chemicals, Combustible Dust, Process Safety|Comments Off on That’s Hazardous? Process Safety in Unexpected Places
Go to Top