Pages

June 30, 2015

Chemical Safety Alert: Safer Technology and Alternatives.by EPA

EPA has brought out a Chemical Safety Alert: Safer Technology and Alternatives. As per them, "This alert is intended to introduce safer technology concepts and general approaches, explains the concepts and principles, and gives brief examples of the integration of safer technologies into facility risk management activities."
Read the alert in this link.

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

June 23, 2015

June 17, 2015

Fire in confined space incident

An interesting incident of a fire in a confined space in a ship has lessons for us in the Chemical industry. In this incident a technician was trying to use a cleaner spray to remove moisture from a junction box in a confined space. To speed up the process of drying, he then decided to use a heat gum. The moment the gun was switched on, the flammable vapours of the cleaner caught fire. Dont take anything for granted.
Read and see pictures of the incident in this link.


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

June 13, 2015

Ammonia leak from road tanker kills 6

An ammonia road tanker apparently hit a low bridge in Ludhiana, causing damage to the tanker valves and subsequent release of ammonia gas that reportedly killed 6 people and sending 100 to hospital. Read about the accident in this link


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

Advances in control systems

This 15 minute video from ABB is worth seeing to see clever uses of technology to make the operators job easier.  I would like your views on alarm shelving that is mentioned in the video. You can see the video in this link:
System 800xA with extended operator workplace

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

June 11, 2015

Selection of Gaskets are important

During a process upset in a plant, a pressure transient took place. This led to two gaskets leaking in a pipeline carrying hazardous gases. Luckily the plant was shutdown and no untoward incident occurred. The investigation determined that improper gaskets were used.
1. Gasket failure
– A process shutdown lead to a transient pressure surge in the pipework which resulted in the failure of two gaskets, and a subsequent leak of hydrocarbons. The release activated the facility fire and gas
system, resulting in an emergency shutdown. Deluge was manually activated until the system had bled down and the release was confirmed to have ceased. There was no resultant fire or injuries.
2. Fuel line failure
– A fuel leak from a generator fuel line resulted in fuel being sprayed onto the generator exhaust resulting in a small pool fire. A Maintenance Engineer, working in an adjacent workshop, smelt
fuel and entered the generator room to investigate. He found a fuel oil mist around the generator and call ed the control room and notified of the leak. He then called for a ships generator to be put on line and left the generator room and shutdown the generator remotely. On his return to inspect the
engine, a small pool fire had started on the hot exhaust manifold covers. The fire was extinguished with a hand held extinguisher and there were no injuries.

What went wrong?
The incorrect installation of parts was a contributing factor in both incidents. Investigation of incident 1 found that a large number of installed gaskets did not meet the pipe specification. Two gaskets failed when exposed to an elevated pressure. Likewise for incident 2, the investigation found that incorrect hoses had been installed in a fuel supply service on the generator, which consequently leaked, resulting in a fire.

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

June 8, 2015

Leadership Lessons from Retired Air Force General Charles V. Ickes from Crane Institute Certification.

 There are excellent leadership lessons to be learnt (applicable for process safety, too) in the following link:
Leadership Lessons from a Top Gun: Retired Air Force General Charles V. Ickes from Crane Institute Certification.

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

June 5, 2015

Pipelne that spilled oil was badly thinned

There are excellent lessons to be learnt fom this incident. It reinforces what I have always been saying : Smart technology needs Smart people! It cannot function alone...

http://news.yahoo.com/pipeline-spilled-oil-california-coast-badly-corroded-073802050.html?soc_src=copy


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

Lessons from the Maggi Noodles relevant to process safety!

I am keenly following the current crisis in Maggi Noodles being withdrawn temporarily in many states in India due to alleged high content of lead and mono sodium glutamate. What can we learn from this episode? CRISIS MANAGEMENT!

Are you ready for crisis management in your organization?

I cannot but draw attention to the tylenol crisis in the mid 80's in USA when some tylenol tablets were contaminated with cyanide by a miscreant. The way Johnson and Johnson handled that crisis is a text book case of Crisis Management.
Read about that in this link. Be prepared!


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

June 4, 2015

Hydrogen safety

Good practical article on hydrogen safety. Worth reading in this link

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