Case study on fire incident in cooling tower

 Read and share this good case study from Oil Industry Safety Directorate. The recommendations, I think speak for themselves, where the issues were.

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Sulphuric acid leak in refinery injures two

A leak from a sulphuric acid pipe in a refinery in USA  has reportedly injured two employees. It appears that workers in the refinery were "afraid" as acid leaks continued to occur frequently. Incidentally, the company has not allowed CSB investigators to pursue their investigation. Read about the incident in this link.


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Pneumatic test accident

The dangers of pneumatic testing is again highlighted by an incident where a 335 litre vessel exploded during the test, causing a worker to loose his legs. Read about the incident in this link

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Misuse of expansion bellows as pipe supports leads to accident

An incident in a pharma company in the UK where bromine sprayed a worker causing severe injuries has been attributed to the bellows used to support pipe work and also corrosion of the bolts of the bellows. Read the incident and causes in this link


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Thumb rules for mechanical seals

Mechanical seal failures cause a hazardous chemical to come out with severe consequences. A very practical rules of thumb for mechanical seals written by Mc Nally (who has 35 years of experience) can be found in this link.


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Chemical plant fire -photos

See 27 photos of the fire in this link.
You can see the pool fire also. Worth noticing is the pressure of the water in the fire water monitors which help to keep surrounding equipment cool


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Pictures from Chingari Trust

As readers are aware, the proceeds from my book go to the Chingari Trust in Bhopal, who take care of the children affected by the Bhopal Gas Disaster. As humans we often react only when it happens to us. The legacy of Bhopal must never be forgotten. Please see some pictures about the activities sent by the trust

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High pressure water jet machine accident

An accident during a high pressure jet machine usage is given in this link

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Chlorine leak affects many

A news report mentions about an accident on NH 75  on the Jharkhand UP border caused a truck carrying chlorine tonners to turn turtle, resulting in the bursting of some tonners. More than 100 persons are reportedly affected.It appears that bad road conditions led to the truck overturning.
Read about the incident in this link.


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Sulphur dioxide leak incident

In 2001, a release of SO2 gas was triggered when a vehicle hit a power supply pole and caused a power outage. Read about the incident and it's causes in this link.

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Interesting incident from workshop

Am currently attending an Indo US workshop on Science and technology for preventing terrorism. A speaker from the US mentioned an incident involving human factors - a highly secure facility which had three layers of security was penetrated by a group of activists, who managed to penetrate all three layers without being noticed by guards. When the activists reached the  secure building, they tried throwing some stones to attract attention, but the security guards thought that carpenters were working late and ignored the noises. Finally they were detected and apprehended. The incident was captured by video. The speaker highlighted that the guards never anticipated a breach as they thought that the three layer security was foolproof. The guards let their guard down! When people do routine monotonous jobs, there is a tendency to ignore warning signs as they are not alert enough.
The same applies to operators who run complex chemical plants with layers of automation. It is a human tendency to think that automation will always do its job. Make sure your operators are trained in the hazards of over dependence of automation. (automation addiction).


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Confined space fatality

One person died when entry was made into a decommissioned submarine without proper atmospheric monitoring. Most probable cause of the accident was oxygen depletion due to rusting inside the decommissioned sub. Many times, we feel that a decommissioned equipment is safer than an equipment that is in service. We let our guard down and then a fatality occurs. Sometimes, new equipment are brought to the site before a turnaround and placed near the unit. They may be nitrogen blanketed and have to be treated just like any vessel in service. Make sure your maintenance personnel understand this.
Read about the accident in this link.

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