“If we accept there is no such thing as ‘zero risk’ then we should not spin the meaning of words with assertions such as ‘all accidents are preventable.’ – Dr. Rob Long In terms of process safety, one definition of risk is, “[The] combination of the frequency of occurrence of harm [the likelihood] and severity [...]
“A man who lacks reliability is utterly useless” - Confucius Mechanical Integrity is an essential element of an efficient process and a safe, cost-effective facility. Furthermore, OSHA’s PSM Standard (29 CFR 1910.119[j]) requires it. And yet, for decades Mechanical Integrity has been a leading cause of OSHA citations. For all of the studies and journal [...]
“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” Henry Ford Your company has had an incident or a near miss, the investigation is closed and the cause has been determined. Now what? In an ideal world, the goal is a return to normal operations with a lower likelihood that the incident [...]
“Red Shirt: In Star Trek, red-uniformed security officers and engineers who accompany the main characters on landing parties who often suffer quick deaths.[” Wikipedia I didn’t see the NBC television series, Star Trek, until it went into syndication, when it became a staple of television viewing for everyone I knew while I was in college. [...]
“We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.” Albert Einstein In Incident Investigations: A Guide for Employers, OSHA defines an incident as “a work-related event in which an injury or ill-health (regardless of severity) or fatality occurred, or could have occurred.” Incidents vary from large scale, such as the [...]
Every part of an organization is dependent on documented procedures to mitigate risk and improve productivity and performance. – Deborah Kenny At Bluefield Process Safety, I have had a chance to work on Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for multiple organizations. I have worked with some organizations that either lack SOPs for some or most tasks, [...]
“At the end of the day, the goals are simple: safety and security.” Jodi Rell At Bluefield Process Safety, our mission is to make the world a safer place. One of the resources we utilize to help us achieve our mission is the recommendations and safety videos released by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB). [...]
“Stopping enabling isn’t easy. Nor is it for the faint of heart. Aside from likely pushback and possible retaliation, you may also fear the consequences of doing nothing.” – Darlene Lancer, JD, MFT, expert on codependency I hate to see an operating company fined for safety violations. First, it means that they were out of [...]
“There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.” Aldous Huxley We’ve all seen them; factories are scattered across the landscapes of America. There’s probably one in or near the town where you live, where you work, where you raise your children. I live near one and [...]
“Safety is not a gadget but a state of mind.” Eleanor Everet Over-pressure scenarios can be defined as a situation resulting from the internal pressure within piping or vessels exceeding the maximum allowable working pressure (MAWP). The term “over-pressure” can make those in the process industry cringe. This revulsion is born from associating the term [...]
