Simplifying Safety Critical

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” Stephen R Covey An important part of managing process safety is deciding what equipment is critical to the process and its safety. Of course, it is important to carefully maintain all equipment, but not all equipment is safety critical. An [...]

What Does an OSHA Fine Mean?

“There is no worse place … to be than on Page 1, above the fold in your daily newspaper.”  Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of the National Security Agency When high profile disasters happen, incidents with a lot of media coverage, I’ve noticed that news organizations make a point of reporting how many OSHA citations [...]

By |2025-01-17T11:51:44-06:00April 5th, 2018|Process Safety, Process Safety Management, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on What Does an OSHA Fine Mean?

Spark Detection

“A mighty flame follows a little spark.”  Dante Alighieri Sparks can cause fires. Good news if you want fire. Bad news if fires, or worse, explosions, are something you want to avoid. So, it should come as no surprise that the National Fire Protection Association takes a dim view of sparks. The Dust Hazard Analysis [...]

By |2025-01-17T11:54:09-06:00March 15th, 2018|Chemicals, Combustible Dust, Procedures, Process Safety, Process Safety Management|Comments Off on Spark Detection

Wait For It! Are Trip Delays Okay?

“But the important thing about learning to wait, I feel sure, is to know what you are waiting for.”  —Anna Neagle Many safety instrumented functions (SIFs) are deliberately designed to wait before tripping.  Like a sergeant commanding his troops to “Wait for it!” the SIF designer is anxious that the SIF not trip prematurely. Some [...]

By |2025-01-17T11:55:15-06:00March 8th, 2018|Process Safety, Process Safety Management, Risk Assessment, Safety Lifecycle|Comments Off on Wait For It! Are Trip Delays Okay?

Workplace Safety – The Road to Success

“If you put good people in bad systems, you get bad results. You have to water the flowers you want to grow.”  Stephen Covey When you think of workplace safety, what comes to mind?  We tend to associate safety with hardhats and safety glasses. However, workplace safety is influenced by factors beyond the proper use [...]

By |2025-01-17T11:57:17-06:00March 1st, 2018|Process Safety Management, Training, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Workplace Safety – The Road to Success

Man Down: Knowing When Someone is Hurt

“If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.”  Isaac Asimov We recently facilitated a Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) where the question came up, “What if there was a release and an operator was suddenly overcome? How would we know?” The PHA team considered several possible safeguards: rounds, radio [...]

By |2025-01-17T11:59:22-06:00February 22nd, 2018|Procedures, Process Safety, Process Safety Management, Training, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Man Down: Knowing When Someone is Hurt

Seven Habits for More Effective PHAs

“Most people would rather have their wisdom teeth extracted without the benefit of anesthesia than sit through a PHA.”  PHAs are tough.  They take focus and energy and they take people away from their regular jobs, which don’t go away just because they are in a PHA. Yet, like good dental hygiene, no one thinks [...]

By |2025-01-17T12:00:07-06:00February 15th, 2018|PHA, Process Safety Management|Comments Off on Seven Habits for More Effective PHAs

Who Gets In? Plant Access Control

“We did not choose to be the guardians of the gate, but there is no one else.” – Lyndon B. Johnson In LOPA, the role of people can be broken down into three categories: Victims, villains, and heroes.  Access control serves not only to reduce the number of victims but also restrict access for villains. [...]

By |2025-01-17T12:01:00-06:00February 1st, 2018|Chemicals, Procedures, Process Safety, Process Safety Management, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Who Gets In? Plant Access Control

So I Know You Understand: Training Verification

“I know you think you understand what you thought I said but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”  —Alan Greenspan I once heard a young operator complain, “All we do around here is safety training. Nobody understands half of it and the other half is just common [...]

By |2025-01-17T12:05:11-06:00January 4th, 2018|Process Safety, Process Safety Management, Training, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on So I Know You Understand: Training Verification

This Is Not a Drill

“Air raid, Pearl Harbor. This is not a drill.”  —Lt. Cmdr. Logan Ramsey, 7-Dec-1941 'Beauty' Ramsey sent one of the most famous telegrams of history after watching a Japanese dive bomber’s payload detonate in Pearl Harbor. Other telegrams went out that morning, from the Navy Yard and Kaneohe, but they were largely ignored until smoke [...]

By |2025-01-17T12:07:34-06:00December 7th, 2017|Process Safety, Process Safety Management, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on This Is Not a Drill
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