February 26, 2016

February 22, 2016

Work permit incident

A hot liquid sulphur splashed in the surrounding area as a maintenance technician opened a filter cover on a live line. Fortunately, no injuries happened.
Operations raised notification to clean the filter in the molten sulphur line. A work permit was raised by maintenance personnel. Shift Supervisor approved the permit without asking the field operator to isolate the equipment. Field operator also signed the hard copy of the permit without isolating the equipment. However, the field operator told the maintenance foreman that the line is not yet isolated and it would be isolated when he was ready to carry out the job. The maintenance foreman gave the permit to the technician but forgot to tell him that it was still live. The technician opened the drain blind flange and opened the drain valve. On finding nothing coming out, he opened the filter cover. Since the line was not isolated hot liquid sulphur sprayed all over the area. Fortunately nobody was injured.



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February 19, 2016

Inside the control room of the future: Experion Orion Console [VIDEO]

Inside the control room of the future: Experion Orion Console [VIDEO]: Honeywell Process Solutions offered a rare insight into the development work being done in Australia to create the advanced display technology that brings the plant control room of the future to life.


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February 15, 2016

IOCL Paradip Refinery: An Engineering Marvel IOCL

Read about the details of the recently commissioned Paradip refinery in this link. The CCR is blast proof.

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February 11, 2016

Massive fire at steel plant in UK caused by lightning

 News reports coming in of a massive fire at a steel plant in UK, attributed to lightning. See the news and pictures in this link

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February 9, 2016

6 burnt alive in factory blast

6 burnt alive in factory blast:
Six workers were burnt alive and one sustained injuries in a fire following an explosion at around 6.30 a.m. in Hasita Aromatics Private Limited factory, at Maheshwaram, located in Telegana.


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February 8, 2016

TransAsia Airways slammed for poor flight safety management | Society | FOCUS TAIWAN - CNA ENGLISH NEWS

Lessons to learn:
TransAsia Airways slammed for poor flight safety management | Society | FOCUS TAIWAN - CNA ENGLISH NEWS


'Though the council put most of the blame for the accident in Penghu on the pilots, it said the airline was also responsible, citing numerous flaws in the carrier's management, including inadequate risk management processes and ineffective safety meetings.
It also questioned senior management's commitment to safety."

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February 5, 2016

Propane incident

Read about a propane explosion in the incident available in this link.
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February 1, 2016

Handling of a cyclone with high wind speeds

I was recently talking to the Unit Head and Head-EHS of a large chemical company which had safely managed a cyclone of wind speeds upto 220 KPMH. They had warning about the cyclone and had planned very well, safely shutting down the plants ahead of the cyclone. Their lessons learnt are summarised as follows:
There is no greater safeguard than pre planning to the last detail before the cyclcone hits.
You must have alternate means of communication (radio) ready
Big trees should be avoided near OHC, Fire station, emergency control centres, main entrances etc as they may fall and block access.
Access to JCB's which can be used to clear pathways is necessary.
Remember every cyclone has an eye. Once the initial phase passes, there will be a calm when the eye passes, followed again by ferocious winds, when the rest of the cyclone passes through.
Insulation damage is inevitable and a plan to restart the plant with partial insulation should be discussed and a management of change done.

The unit managed the cyclone safely without a single injury. Hats off to them!

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