Unusual Process Hazards: Manhole Covers

“If I had a nickel for every time this happened, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice. Right?”  — Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirz Friends and acquaintances recently flooded my inbox with stories about a series of sewer explosions near the north riverfront of St. Louis. It launched several [...]

By |2024-09-05T13:59:57-05:00September 5th, 2024|Chemicals, Current Events, Process Safety|1 Comment

Close to the Edge: Banking, Railroads, and…the Chemical Industry?

“Banking should be boring.”  — Senator Elizabeth Warren We tend to celebrate those adventurers who take big risks for the chance at big rewards, at least when it pays off. On the other hand, we tend to condemn those that take big risks but don’t suffer the consequences when their risk-taking doesn’t pay off. Especially [...]

By |2023-08-11T17:48:08-05:00March 23rd, 2023|Chemicals, Current Events, Process Safety|Comments Off on Close to the Edge: Banking, Railroads, and…the Chemical Industry?

Just Right: Hazardous (Classified) Locations

“My life experience confirms that the U.S. government frequently overclassifies data.”  — Michael Hayden When it comes hazardous (classified) locations—electrical classification—even seemingly sophisticated technical facilities often get it wrong. The issue isn’t with the class, or the group, but with the division. Getting the division wrong, though, can render a facility more hazardous than it should [...]

By |2023-01-26T16:45:23-06:00January 26th, 2023|Chemicals, Combustible Dust, Process Safety|Comments Off on Just Right: Hazardous (Classified) Locations

Not a Dust Explosion: Fatalities at a Polish Granary

“The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labor.”  — George Orwell Yesterday afternoon, I was asked what I knew about the granary explosion that happened in Poland, killing two workers. I hadn’t heard of it, but my thoughts immediately went to NFPA 652, the [...]

By |2022-11-17T16:28:08-06:00November 17th, 2022|Combustible Dust, Current Events|1 Comment

It’s Natural, But Is It Safe?

“…made from all natural ingredients, so you know it’s safe.”  — Brian Angliss, mocking an advertisement for an ED product I once had a roommate who would go off on a rant periodically about plastic that went like this: “Not natural?! What do you mean it’s not natural?! It’s made from petrochemicals, isn’t it? And [...]

By |2022-11-11T14:14:49-06:00November 11th, 2022|Chemicals, Current Events, Process Safety|Comments Off on It’s Natural, But Is It Safe?

Just Water? Process Hazards of H2O

“It is with our passions as it is with fire and water; they are good servants but bad masters.”  — Aesop A common trope of Hazard Communication training is for the instructor to share an SDS of “dihydrogen oxide” with the class and to review all the dangers of this “hazardous chemical”. Then, in a [...]

By |2022-08-11T18:09:25-05:00August 11th, 2022|Current Events, Process Safety|Comments Off on Just Water? Process Hazards of H2O

Recent Explosions in St. Louis: Lessons for Process Safety

“It always seems impossible until done.”  — Nelson Mandela There are dozens of motivational posters available that encourage us all to believe that we can do the impossible. They intend to inspire us to reach for the stars. But there is also a dark side to achieving the impossible. It’s when the impossible we are [...]

By |2022-07-15T14:14:53-05:00July 15th, 2022|Chemicals, Current Events, Process Safety|Comments Off on Recent Explosions in St. Louis: Lessons for Process Safety

PVEs, BLEVEs, VCEs, and Fireballs: How Do They Differ?

“Maybe tone it down with the explosions.”  — Michael Bay Most of what we know about explosions is wrong. Most of what we “know” about explosions is what we’ve learned from the movies, which is the only thing called an explosion that we ever see. But what we see in the movies are not explosions, [...]

By |2022-05-12T15:45:09-05:00May 12th, 2022|Chemicals, Process Safety|Comments Off on PVEs, BLEVEs, VCEs, and Fireballs: How Do They Differ?

Steam or Hot Oil: Which Is Safer?

“I have always fancied that the end of the world will be when some enormous boiler, heated to three thousand millions of atmospheric pressure, shall explode and blow up the globe… They [the Americans] are great boiler makers.”  — Jules Verne I was recently asked about using hot oil instead of steam to heat process [...]

By |2021-07-22T15:20:05-05:00July 22nd, 2021|Chemicals, Process Safety, Process Safety Management|Comments Off on Steam or Hot Oil: Which Is Safer?

DHAs: An OSHA Requirement?

“Speed limit 55. It’s not just a good idea. It’s the law.”  — Advertising Council and U.S. Department of Transportation (1977) Ever since the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) published the 2019 Edition of NFPA 652, Standard on the Fundamentals of Combustible Dust, which states in §7.1.1.2 that a Dust Hazard Analysis (DHA) must be [...]

By |2021-04-29T16:43:06-05:00April 29th, 2021|Combustible Dust, Process Safety, Process Safety Management|Comments Off on DHAs: An OSHA Requirement?
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