Archive for the ‘Process Safety’ Category
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
In the last two years, I have traveled significantly...have an elite status on three airlines and lots of frequent flyer miles. There are quite a few aspects of a trip that are routine and boring. One such thing is the safety announcement or video at the beginning of each flight. ...
Posted in Process Safety, Safety Culture, Training | 7 Comments »
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
According to a recent report (Aug. 2008) from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is not in compliance with its statutory mandates. The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents and has been in operation since 1998. GAO report states that ...
Posted in Incident Investigation, Process Safety, Regulations | 1 Comment »
Sunday, June 14th, 2009
We make hundreds of decisions everyday in our lives – for example should I eat fries with my burger?
(Photo Courtesy of Amber on Flickr)
Eating a few fries this one time will not increase risks of a heart attack. Plus I like the fries from this joint. I’m ready to order!!
That ...
Posted in Decision Analysis, Human Factors, Process Safety, Safety Culture | No Comments »
Sunday, May 31st, 2009
We appear to be in a global recession – companies all over are struggling to deal with impact of economic slowdown. In an attempt to maintain profits, companies are drastically reducing their spending and also trimming down their workforce. It is anticipated that one-fourth of the employers in the US ...
Posted in OSHA PSM, Process Safety, Risk Communication | No Comments »
Sunday, May 24th, 2009
The 20th century was a time of great technological change that forever transformed how we live and work – changes that necessitated the birth and development of the field of Process Safety Management. The early years saw the evolution of mechanization into assembly lines and true industrialization. Lack of access ...
Posted in OSHA PSM, Process Safety | 5 Comments »
Sunday, April 12th, 2009
An explosion occurred at East Ohio Company’s peak-shaving plant in Cleveland, Ohio on October 20, 1944. 128 people were killed and 225 injured as a result of the incident.
East Ohio Company built a LNG peak-shaving facility in Cleveland in 1941 to augment the gas supply. In 1943, a cylindrical storage ...
Posted in Incident Investigation, LNG, Process Safety | 1 Comment »
Sunday, April 5th, 2009
Process and portable building siting has attracted further interest following the BP Texas city incident. Because of the proximity of office buildings to chemical processes, it is likely that people inside of a building be subjected to higher risks from process hazards than outdoor personnel.
A facility siting study is used ...
Posted in Consequence Modeling, Process Safety, Siting | 1 Comment »
Sunday, March 15th, 2009
Reactivity hazards involve conversion of stored chemical energy of the components into mechanical or heat energy, andit is the uncontrolled release of this stored energy that causes the damage in a reactive chemical incident. The reactivity of a substance is normally assessed by performing calorimetric measurements.
Information about the amount of ...
Posted in Process Safety, Reactive Chemicals | 2 Comments »
Sunday, March 8th, 2009
It is estimated that there are more than 500,000 Above ground storage tanks (ASTs) in the U.S. These tanks can leak gradually (more likely) or may collapse suddenly (low probability). The loss of tank content can lead to water contamination or may lead to a fire in case of a ...
Posted in Failure Data, Inspection & Maintenance, Process Safety, Storage Tanks | 3 Comments »
Sunday, March 1st, 2009
While performing consequence modeling we are often required to evaluate damage to population and property from a fire.
Thermal radiation impact to humans from a fire should be based on the dosage – i.e. the intensity of exposure and the duration of exposure. Furthermore, such an impact from thermal radiation on ...
Posted in Consequence Modeling, Fires and explosions, Process Safety, Thermal Radiation | 6 Comments »
