“Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping, into the future.” — Steve Miller The Process Safety Management (PSM) standard, 29 CFR 1910.119, states in (e)(6) that “At least every five (5) years after the completion of the initial process hazard analysis, the process hazard analysis shall be updated and revalidated by a team meeting the requirements [...]
“You can’t let your failures define you. You have to let your failures teach you.” — Barack Obama Forty years ago, on December 3, 1984, the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India released 45 tons of methyl isocyanate. The official toll of immediate deaths is 2,259 people. Estimates of the final death toll ranges but [...]
“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 [...]
“Paper doesn’t save people. People save people.” — Dan Peterson I don’t know anyone in a regulated community that likes regulations. Some may accept them because they bring clarity in a confusing situation, but no one likes them. Even with the best of intentions, someone that must comply with a lot of regulations worries that [...]
“Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” — Carl Bard Constellation Energy just signed a 20-year deal with Microsoft to provide clean energy—or at least carbon-free energy—from Unit 1 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant. The plan is [...]
“If at any time [federal] inspectors identify something that needs to be addressed, our team does so immediately.” — Elizabeth Ward, company spokesperson for Boar’s Head Provision Co. I was once a Scoutmaster. One of the most coveted items that my younger Scouts could earn was the Totin’ Chip, which granted them the right to [...]
“Don’t cross the streams.” -Egon from Ghostbusters It doesn’t take much for two tasks to interfere with one another out in general industry. Work environments can be quite hectic as the end of a fiscal year approaches, where multiple goals and tasks are being wrapped up. Plant life is not much different, except some of [...]
“Representation not only reflects, but actually changes reality.” — Angela Chen OSHA has several regulations that allow or require employee participation in activities regarding workplace safety. For instance, there is employee participation during OSHA inspections and in the development of the elements of the Process Safety Management (PSM) standard. And those regulations don’t stop at [...]
“Meetings should have as few people as possible, but all the right people.” — Charles W. Scharf Ever been in a Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) meeting where there were over a dozen people? Wasn’t it excruciating? Either you wondered why you needed to be there, or you wondered why some of the other people needed [...]
“Time is the fire in which we burn.”- Delmore Schwartz A resin and rosin manufacturer in Brunswick, Georgia reignited in the afternoon on April 15th after catching fire that morning. Sources cite changing winds as a possible reason for reignition, a natural occurrence out of human control. Tornados, hurricanes, and earthquakes are consistently on the [...]
