Lessons from Hazira fire

With reference to my previous post about a fire in a refinery, a fire had occurred in January 2013 in a oil depot of IOC at Hazira.that Killed 5 workers. The investigation report of that incident mentions that  the root cause of the incident was ignition of flammable vapours inside a floating roof tank pontoon.It appears that the pontoon was earlier repaired with old corroded plates that led to the leak. The cause of ignition was most likely a spark generated due to a falling object.


Read the report in this link.

See a video of the fire in this link. 


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Operator dies in flare KO drum area fire

A fire in a flare KO drum area has killed an operator in an IOC refinery in Koyali.  The incident occurred on 16th July and the operator succumbed to his burns on 25th July. While the reasons for the incident are being investigated, please remember that Flare systems are emergency safety systems and that we need to pay them great attention. Often fires get reported due to water seals blowing, overflows from flare stacks, and inadequate maintenance. Are you giving your flare systems the same importance as a single stream rotating equipment?

Read the news article about the incident in this link. 

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MOC survey results

Thank you to the participants of the MOC survey
Results are given below:

Total participants: 45

What do you feel is the weakest link in your MOC program?

Lack of commitment by top management                              21.7%   

Too elaborate and complicated                                               29.7%   

Lack of time                                                                            48.6%

Do you have adequate time to conduct a PSSR?

Yes                                                                                          64.9%

No                                                                                            35.1%

Do you feel the PHA conducted as part of MOC is really bringing out all process hazards?

Yes                                                                                         48.6%

No                                                                                           51.4%

What is the greatest challenge to your MOC program?

Majority answered that it is lack of proper engineering documentation

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3D virtual simulator for chemical plants

Now this is one technology driven change that sure is going to benefit process safety! The Department of Energy is running a program with West Virginia University to test 3D virtual simulators for training process plant simulators. Read an article about this in this link.

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Accident in urea plant in 1992 - Are you taking precautions?

 In 1992, while doing maintenance work on an ammonia feed pump in a urea plant in India, 11 persons died due to sudden ingress of ammonia reportedly due to a failed suction valve bush.What precautions are you taking when handing over equipment for maintenance to prevent such incidents?
Read the incident in this link.

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