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November 28, 2014

USB sticks and security issues

In 2012, two power plants in the USA were affected by malware attacks, brought in by USB sticks. Read the article in this link.
Have you banned USB sticks in your plant?
 
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November 18, 2014

Snake in the control room

 In 1984, when I was shift in charge in an ammonia plant, the control room was ordinary building with three aluminium doors. Two doors were in front of the building and one at the back. The door at the back was near to a locker room. One day as an operator was changing his dress, he spotted a snake in the room. Immediately he raised an alarm (Basically he screamed his lungs out!!) and we managed to isolate the snake inside the room till help came and the snake was taken out. Imagine the plight if the snake had entered the main control room which was just a few feet away. Are you prepared for "snakes" in your control room? By this I mean are you ready with a plan in case the control room becomes uninhabitable due to some emergency? The emergency could be a fire, toxic gas ingress or anything else. Don't think it will not happen. Instead, be prepared.


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November 16, 2014

November 15, 2014

Planning for mock drills


Mayday! Mayday! The distress calls from Mukesh Ambani's plane that shook ATC - Times of India

The above article from Times of India shows how preparation for mock drills could cause an incident.
  
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November 13, 2014

News article from BBC

 Thanks to Sanjeevi for sending this news article from BBC http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29997074


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El Al crew briefly 'lost control' of plane in August incident, investigation shows - National Israel News | Haaretz

El Al crew briefly 'lost control' of plane in August incident, investigation shows - National Israel News | Haaretz

The incident highlights the need for a human being to take control during emergencies. Automation will not solve all problems.

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November 12, 2014

Fire in turbine in power plant

A leak in an oil pipeline of a steam turbine has caused a fire which has stopped power production in a Chennai power plant. Though no persons were injured, it highlights the dangers of lube oil leaks.
Read an article on Controlling the risks of lubrication oil fires - from Machinery Lubrication.

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November 9, 2014

Firefighter killed in ammonia leak in Israel

On 6.11.14, according to news reports, a firefighter was killed and hundreds of people living around an industrial area in Israel were asked to take shelter in their homes after an ammonia leak from a pressurised 60 MT ammonia  vessel. As per news reports, an initial investigation found that maintenance workers at the factory accidentally hit a pipe from the vessel, causing a crack to develop.The firefighter who died was responding to the emergency and trying to locate the leak when he became separated from his team due to the heavy cloud of ammonia vapors, and eventually ran out of air.
He was found unconscious shortly before midnight, but despite the efforts of medical teams, was pronounced dead at the scene.






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November 8, 2014

Similar flight numbers spark scare - Times of India

 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Similar-flight-numbers-spark-scare/articleshow/45053195.cms

See the human factors in the above article.

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November 4, 2014

Case study on unusual failures in hydrogen production

A good case study on unusual failures in hydrogen production can be read in this link


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November 2, 2014

Learn lessons from this confined space incident

 LINK HAS BEEN UPDATED

An investigation of the marine accident investigation board of a confined space incident involving three fatalities indicates how careful you must be.
In this incident, three people died when they entered a ships hold.  You can also read about the rescue attempt and how the rescue contributed to the number of fatalities.
Read the report in this link.


Contribute to the surviving victims of Bhopal by buying my book "Practical Process Safety Management"

November 1, 2014

Learn lessons from this confined space incident

An investigation of the marine accident investigation board of a confined space incident involving three fatalities indicates how careful you must be.
In this incident, three people died when they entered a ships hold.  You can also read about the rescue attempt and how the rescue contributed to the number of fatalities.
Read the report in this link.

Contribute to the surviving victims of Bhopal by buying my book "Practical Process Safety Management"

Pesticide reacts with moisture and overpressurises container

 An employee at a company was injured when the top of a seven gallon metal container top burst open and hit his arm.
The built up pressure was caused by a pesticide packet that due to a defect, was not entirely closed and activated with moisture from the air and began releasing the small amount of chemicals it held, pressurizing the container.

Read about the incident in this link
  

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