Archive for the ‘Regulations’ Category
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
OSHA Process Safety Management (PSM) program is nearly two decades old and I believe that the 14 PSM elements provide a good basic framework for facilities to create a safety program.
What OSHA PSM lacks is quality metric.
Let me explain further.
For example, one of the elements of the OSHA PSM is emergency planning. As a part of ...
Posted in Emergency Response Plan, OSHA PSM, Process Safety, Regulations | 1 Comment »
Monday, July 12th, 2010
Risk is a perception.
Our perception of risks is mainly affected by two factors:
(a) whether we are voluntarily accepting the risk.
A good example is a refinery worker considers the risks at workplace lower than his cousin who has only read about chemical plants; and
(b) potential consequences of event or act or decision.
For a layman, ...
Posted in Regulations, Risk Communication, Risk Perception, Security | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
When you are driving on a highway, usually there is a speed limit. If you exceed this limit, a cop can give you a ticket.
In Houston, most highways have a speed limit of 65-70 miles per hour…although most drivers appear to assume it implies “90-mph is okay”.
Let us say the ...
Posted in EPA RMP, OSHA PSM, Process Safety, Regulations | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
About a year ago, the Minerals Management Services (MMS) proposed a new rule that would require operators of oil and gas operations in the US Outer Continental Shelf to develop and implement Safety and Environmental Management System (SEMS).
It is expected that the rule will be promulgated sometime this year.
Based on ...
Posted in Offshore, Process Safety, Regulations | 5 Comments »
Friday, June 11th, 2010
In Dec. of 2004, I attended a conference in India to commemorate 20 years of Bhopal. After the conference, a few attendees took a train to Bhopal to visit the plant site. While in Bopal I visited my aunt - her name is Maya. She was in her house in Bhopal ...
Posted in Chemical Accidents, Process Safety, Regulations | 1 Comment »
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
Stakeholder Comments on OSHA Combustible Rulemaking from John Astad's blog.
Posted in Dust Explosions, OSHA PSM, Regulations | 2 Comments »
Monday, October 19th, 2009
According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), there were 11 deaths every 100,000 workers in India in 2005. This number was two in the US and 0.01 in Japan. What is scary is that the number of fatalities may be significantly underestimated because of absence of a formal accident tracking ...
Posted in Chemical Accidents, Process Safety, Regulations | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
OSHA inspected 42 refineries between June 2007 - February 2009. Below is a summary of violations for 30 refineries.
[Table=12]
The average penalty for each violation is $ 5,650.
The average penalty per refinery is $ 98,300.
Contrast these numbers with $700 million that cost BP for fatality and personal injury claims related to ...
Posted in OSHA PSM, Regulations | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
CSB’s approach to chemical accident investigation is a step further than OSHA’s. CSB gathers background information about the accidents, performs a detailed root cause study, and makes recommendations to appropriate stakeholders. Great approach to a complex issue...but CSB’s strategy following the investigation leaves a lot to be desired.
The hope from ...
Posted in Chemical Accidents, Process Safety, Regulations | 2 Comments »
Monday, October 5th, 2009
Interesting post by John "Dust Explosion" Astad.
Where's the Beef? Previous Training Material
Posted in Regulations, Training | No Comments »
