“OSHA Says”: Oxygen Monitoring

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”  — George Bernard Shaw Because of the work we do, we often hear about OSHA requirements that don’t actually exist. Something akin to, “Well, OSHA says you have to…” Occasionally, they are right. More often though, the requirement fulfills someone’s agenda and OSHA is the [...]

By |2025-01-30T09:00:50-06:00January 30th, 2025|Process Safety, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on “OSHA Says”: Oxygen Monitoring

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%?

Carbon Dioxide: A Simple Asphyxiant?

“In the last two decades of the twentieth century, hundreds of people have died of carbon dioxide asphyxiation near volcanoes in Cameroon and in Indonesia.”  — Allison Stark Draper, in Coping With Natural Disasters Many worry about carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. Carbon dioxide is also a much more urgent hazard. [...]

By |2025-01-16T12:45:04-06:00November 16th, 2023|Chemicals, Process Safety|Comments Off on Carbon Dioxide: A Simple Asphyxiant?

Just Two Breaths

“I love to breath. Oxygen is sexy.”  — Kris Carr How long can you hold your breath? One minute? Two minutes? Pearl divers have been known to hold their breaths for over 10 minutes. When we’re breathing, though, it’s at a rate of between 8 and 20 breaths per minutes. So, many find it difficult [...]

By |2025-01-16T14:00:26-06:00September 15th, 2022|Gas, Process Safety, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Just Two Breaths

Simple Asphyxiation: The Tragedy in Gainesville

“It is these properties that make materials so useful that also pose hazards to health and property.”  — Peter Lodal Liquid nitrogen has some wonderful properties. It is really, really cold, so it is great for flash freezing delicate items. When vaporized, it helps maintain non-flammable mixtures, even when flammable vapors are present. Because it [...]

By |2025-01-16T15:47:35-06:00February 4th, 2021|Chemicals, Current Events, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Simple Asphyxiation: The Tragedy in Gainesville
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