Defeating Safety: 3 Reasons People Put Protective Devices Out of Commission and What to Do About Them

“When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal.”  —Napoleon Hill Ever found a fire door propped open? It won’t do much good that way, but studies have found that the probability of finding a fire door propped [...]

By |2018-08-16T13:53:40-05:00August 16th, 2018|Procedures, Training, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Defeating Safety: 3 Reasons People Put Protective Devices Out of Commission and What to Do About Them

Breaking Glass: Facility Siting

“I love the sound of breaking glass.”  Nick Lowe When I was a kid, the song, “I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass,” was on the radio. I didn’t get it. I had memories of the sound of breaking glass, none of them good: The sound of an errant baseball going through the neighbor’s picture [...]

By |2025-01-17T11:39:53-06:00August 2nd, 2018|Process Safety, Risk Assessment, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Breaking Glass: Facility Siting

If It Weren’t For Bad Luck, We’d Have No Luck at All

Only bad golfers are lucky. They’re the ones bouncing balls off trees, curbs, turtles and cars. Good golfers have bad luck. When you hit the ball straight, a funny bounce is bound to be unlucky.”  –Lee Trevino At the recent Global Congress on Process Safety, a slogan showed up several times. In presentations, on displays, [...]

By |2025-01-17T11:45:11-06:00June 14th, 2018|Process Safety|Comments Off on If It Weren’t For Bad Luck, We’d Have No Luck at All

How Rare is Rare?

“The unlikely combination of potatoes and pasta does appear in some Italian recipes.”  Yotam Ottolenghi People sometimes have a hard time appreciating the difference between risk and consequences. To help, we ask them to imagine the worst thing possible that could actually happen at their plant, but not to say what it is. Then we [...]

By |2025-01-17T11:45:44-06:00June 7th, 2018|Process Safety, Process Safety Management, Risk Assessment|Comments Off on How Rare is Rare?

Tolerable Risk, Analysis from a Novice

“Safety is a common denominator across all aspects of life, hence knowledge should always be shared.  It is not a matter for industry it is a matter for humanity.”  Doug Bourne, technical director at PM Lucas Six months ago, if you would have asked me to define the phrase “tolerable risk”, I would have stared [...]

By |2025-01-17T13:00:29-06:00January 12th, 2017|Process Safety Management, Risk Assessment|Comments Off on Tolerable Risk, Analysis from a Novice
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