Process Safety: On the Bourbon Trail

“Devils drinking devils and the flames are getting higher. All of Bardstown’s crying tonight, Heaven Hill’s on fire.”  — Shannon Lawson, The Galoots Chris Schmidt and I recently returned from a week-long trip to Kentucky to enjoy the countryside and to sample bourbons from some of the 46 distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. As [...]

“It’s Probably Water”: Is That Good Enough?

“You can’t trust water. Even a straight stick turns crooked in it.”  — W. C. Fields ChrisSchmidt and I recently visited several distilleries on Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail. After tasting one particularly strong whiskey, she reached for a tall glass of clear liquid to chase it down. “Yeah, that’s probably water,” said our tasting guide, hinting [...]

Gambling With Safety: Acceptable Risk vs. Tolerable Risk

“How often misused words generate misleading thoughts.”  ‑ Herbert Spencer I once worked for an organization where senior managers freely expressed their differences of opinion. Often, they would dismiss a colleague’s position, saying, “That’s just semantics.” It became easy for me to conclude that semantics, the meaning of words and statements, were trivial. I know better [...]

By |2025-03-06T10:09:11-06:00March 6th, 2025|PHA, Process Safety, Process Safety Management, Risk Assessment|Comments Off on Gambling With Safety: Acceptable Risk vs. Tolerable Risk

Occupational Noise: Is Hearing Protection Enough?

“Unnecessary noise is the most cruel absence of care that can be inflicted on the sick or the well.”  — Florence Nightingale I grew up in an age of loud rock ‘n roll. I, like one in six people of my generation, suffer some hearing loss. To save the hearing that I still have, I [...]

By |2025-02-06T09:54:11-06:00February 6th, 2025|Recommendations, Risk Assessment, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Occupational Noise: Is Hearing Protection Enough?

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?

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 |2025-01-14T13:58:57-06:00September 5th, 2024|Chemicals, Current Events, Process Safety|1 Comment

When A Chemical Truck Rolls Over: Gawkers

“It’s what you do next that counts.”  — Lisa Mackay One of my favorite movies is The Great Waldo Pepper starring Robert Redford as a barnstorming pilot after World War I. One scene is seared into my memory. Waldo Pepper’s friend, Ezra Stiles, crashes during an air show. The crowd surges out to the wrecked [...]

By |2025-01-16T12:30:38-06:00February 23rd, 2024|Chemicals, Current Events|Comments Off on When A Chemical Truck Rolls Over: Gawkers

Safe Limits for Oxygen Exposure: Why 19.5% to 23.5%?

“Love is like oxygen. You get too much, you get too high; not enough and you’re gonna die.”  — Andy Scott, of Sweet OSHA standards define safe lower and upper limits to the concentration of oxygen in the atmosphere to which workers are exposed. The limits are a minimum of 19.5% and a maximum of [...]

By |2025-01-16T12:42:04-06:00December 7th, 2023|Chemicals, Process Safety, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Safe Limits for Oxygen Exposure: Why 19.5% to 23.5%?

Piping Leaks: The Most Common Process Hazard

“Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship.”  — Benjamin Franklin The most common hazard we encounter during a HazOp is a leaking pipe. Not the most severe and not the highest risk. Just the most common. But we always encounter it. Why? Because pipes leak. All pipes, whether or not [...]

By |2025-01-16T13:20:07-06:00June 8th, 2023|PHA, Process Safety, Risk Assessment|Comments Off on Piping Leaks: The Most Common Process Hazard
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