Process Safety: Summertime Slip

“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 [...]

By |2025-01-16T09:54:52-06:00January 16th, 2025|Process Safety, Process Safety Management|0 Comments

Recommendations: Evolution of an Approach

“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 [...]

By |2025-01-09T10:31:25-06:00January 9th, 2025|PHA, Process Safety, Process Safety Management|0 Comments

Process Safety Concerns: Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling

“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 [...]

By |2025-01-08T09:15:00-06:00January 2nd, 2025|Chemicals, Current Events, Process Safety, Process Safety Management, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Process Safety Concerns: Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling

Risk Management: Are Hurricanes Really Getting More Frequent?

“The head of the hurricane research division, Hugh Willoughby, told me that hurricanologists can predict the behavior of storms if those storms behave predictably.”  — Erik Larson Hurricane season is officially from June 1 to November 30, so it’s not officially over yet. A look at the Atlantic, however, shows no tropical depressions developing and [...]

By |2024-11-22T13:05:43-06:00November 22nd, 2024|Current Events, PHA, Process Safety Management, Risk Assessment|Comments Off on Risk Management: Are Hurricanes Really Getting More Frequent?

Hot Work Permits: Has the EPA Created a New Fire Hazard?

“Paper doesn’t save people. People save people.”  — Dan Peterson I don’t know anyone in a regulated community that likes regulations. Some may accept them because they bring clarity in a confusing situation, but no one likes them. Even with the best of intentions, someone that must comply with a lot of regulations worries that [...]

By |2025-01-14T13:53:02-06:00October 10th, 2024|Current Events, Process Safety, Process Safety Management|Comments Off on Hot Work Permits: Has the EPA Created a New Fire Hazard?

Restarting a Plant: Do You Really Need a PSSR?

“Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”  — Carl Bard Constellation Energy just signed a 20-year deal with Microsoft to provide clean energy—or at least carbon-free energy—from Unit 1 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant. The plan is [...]

By |2025-01-14T13:55:36-06:00September 26th, 2024|Chemicals, Current Events, PHA, Process Safety, Process Safety Management, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Restarting a Plant: Do You Really Need a PSSR?

Process Safety: Proper Maintenance is Essential

“If at any time [federal] inspectors identify something that needs to be addressed, our team does so immediately.”  — Elizabeth Ward, company spokesperson for Boar’s Head Provision Co. I was once a Scoutmaster. One of the most coveted items that my younger Scouts could earn was the Totin’ Chip, which granted them the right to [...]

By |2025-01-14T13:57:52-06:00September 19th, 2024|Current Events, Process Safety, Process Safety Management|Comments Off on Process Safety: Proper Maintenance is Essential

Complacency: What Can Be Done About It?

“You need to have redesign because familiarity breeds a kind of complacency.”  — Timothy White When a hazardous incident occurs, we often hear a single word offered as an explanation: “Complacency.”  Maybe it’s true, but is it helpful? You will never hear someone come to the defense of complacency. Complacency is universally regarded as undesirable. [...]

By |2025-01-16T12:20:15-06:00August 29th, 2024|Process Safety, Process Safety Management, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Complacency: What Can Be Done About It?

Cameras: Like A Watched Pot

“Notice. All Activities Monitored By Video Camera.”  — Various Department Store Surveillance Signs The adage that a watched pot never boils is false. The boil will occur, regardless of whether someone is observing it. Watching the pot appears to increase the time it takes to boil, especially if that is the only task that the [...]

By |2025-01-16T12:51:11-06:00October 12th, 2023|Process Safety, Process Safety Management, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Cameras: Like A Watched Pot

…And Their Representatives

“Representation not only reflects, but actually changes reality.”  — Angela Chen OSHA has several regulations that allow or require employee participation in activities regarding workplace safety. For instance, there is employee participation during OSHA inspections and in the development of the elements of the Process Safety Management (PSM) standard. And those regulations don’t stop at [...]

By |2025-01-16T13:00:34-06:00August 31st, 2023|PHA, Process Safety Management|2 Comments
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