“A memorandum is not to inform the reader but to protect the writer.” — Dean Acheson A reader asked me “How long do I need to keep confined space entry permits for a covered process?” He knew my thoughts on retaining hot work permits and wondered if the same approach applied to other permits in [...]
“Quantity and persistence will get you the outcomes you need.” — James Altucher One of the challenges of process hazard analysis is risk assessment. To determine whether additional risk reduction is required, the team must quantify the risk and compare it to risk tolerance criteria. For the risk tolerance criteria to be useful to the [...]
“Complaints are prayers to the wrong god.” — Anne Lamott We live in a culture that actively discourages reporting problems. We’re told “Complain less, appreciate more,” “No one likes to listen to complaints,” and “Never complain and never explain.” And extreme cases, we’re reminded that “Snitches get stitches.” Yet there are dozens of requirements to [...]
“The ancient Greeks and Romans also held the view that acceptance is the beginning of wisdom.” — Simon Van Booy PHA teams often face the question of whether to address tank truck loading and unloading. On the one hand, trucks in transit are under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), not the [...]
“What’s wrong with the car? What do you think’s wrong with the car? Damn thing’s broke.” — Richard Pryor When I was a poor college student, I wasn’t too poor to have an old beater of a car. It was paid for, but I could barely afford gas, much less proper maintenance. So, I tended [...]
“I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.” — Winston Churchill The Chemical Safety Board (CSB) describes its public safety mission as being to "drive chemical safety excellence through independent investigations to protect communities, workers, and the environment" with the vision of "a nation free from chemical disasters." The CSB’s [...]
“Few things happen in spite of the boss.” — unattributed An unsafe workplace isn’t necessarily the result of a poor safety culture. There are times when the organization wants to be safe but doesn’t know how. And by “organization,” I mean the people in the organization. Those are the situations where a safety professional can [...]
“It doesn’t take many observations to think you’ve spotted a trend, and it’s probably not a trend at all.” — Daniel Kahneman In a December 2022 press release, CSB Chairperson Steve Owens alerted us all to a worrisome spike in CSB-reportable incidents at chemical facilities and the need to focus on winterization to prevent major [...]
“Whisky making is an act of cooperation between the blessings of nature and the wisdom of man.” — Masataka Taketsura While on a tour of a craft distillery, the distiller (and owner) and I got to talking about the safety aspects of distilling whiskey. The question of whether whiskey needed an SDS came up. It [...]
“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.” — Vince Lombardi I don’t believe that I have ever facilitated a perfect PHA. The question is, how would I recognize it if it was perfect? And would others agree? What exactly is a perfect PHA? A PHA Identifies Hazards The primary [...]
