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 |2024-02-23T10:19:14-06:00February 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 |2023-12-07T09:20:33-06:00December 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 |2023-08-14T17:49:00-05:00June 8th, 2023|PHA, Process Safety, Risk Assessment|Comments Off on Piping Leaks: The Most Common Process Hazard

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

I Can’t Breathe: Asphyxia in the Process Industries

“Suffocation is a cruel way to go.”  — Arlaina Tibensky I usually think of process safety hazards as being related to fire, explosions, or toxic releases. There is another process hazard, however, doesn’t necessarily depend on any of these. It’s asphyxiation—death due to an inability to get enough oxygen to the body. Asphyxiation is not [...]

By |2022-08-18T20:01:29-05:00August 18th, 2022|Chemicals, Gas, Process Safety, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on I Can’t Breathe: Asphyxia in the Process Industries

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

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?

Process Design and Hazard Review: They Are Not the Same

“A camel is a horse designed by a committee.”  — Alec Issigonis Good process design results in a process that is more likely to work. Great process design results in a process that is even less likely to not work. Great process design is not the result of compromise and trade-offs, but of a singular [...]

By |2022-04-14T13:39:40-05:00April 14th, 2022|PHA, Process Safety, Process Safety Management|Comments Off on Process Design and Hazard Review: They Are Not the Same

Eternal Vigilance: Proof Tests are Essential to Safety

“But, after all, no safeguards are adequate, unless the will to give effect to them fully is present.”  — Jawaharial Nehru I had a truly embarrassing experience a couple days ago. I got a flat tire. The flat tire itself wasn’t embarrassing.  Annoying, yes, but not embarrassing. There are road hazards, and even the most [...]

KISS: Keep It Simple = Safety

“Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.”  — Edsger Dijkstra For most of my life, I have struggled to keep down to a healthy weight. It didn’t help when someone told me, “Losing weight is simple. Eat less.” When I protested, they replied, “I said it was simple. I didn’t say it was easy.” The safest plant [...]

By |2022-02-03T16:03:10-06:00February 3rd, 2022|PHA, Process Safety|Comments Off on KISS: Keep It Simple = Safety
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