Tragic accident due to lack of Lock Out Tag Out

 In a tragic accident, a production engineer lost his life when he entered a machine that was not         de energised, when someone accidentally started it. His colleague, who was about to enter the machine jumped out when it started and ran to stop it, but it was too late. Never underestimate the importance of lock out/ tag out/try. Read the details about the incident in the Times of India article in this link.
 
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Methanol tanker fire incident

Read about an incident of a methanol tanker fire during unloading in this link. 

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Turbines: Mechanical or electrical trip system testing?

Turbines: Mechanical or electrical trip system testing?

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Refinery incidents

 The OISD (Oil Industry Safety Directorate) has these incidents in their website. Share it with all your colleagues:

Electrocution incident in refinery

Fatal incident due to H2S exposure

Crude oil pipeline leak

Explosion in floating roof tank

Flash fire LPG tank truck

Acid gas KO vessel exposure incident

Corroded pipeline incident

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Another confined space accident

Three workers of a factory have died after entering a furnace oil tank. The oil pump which supplies a furnace was not working and the three had entered the tank to remove the oil in buckets when they were asphyxiated

Read about the incident in this link.
 
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Challenges for process safety management in India

If we want to prevent another Bhopal type of disaster in India, a number of actions have to be taken on various fronts -industry, legislation, education etc. Please read my thoughts in this article, available in this link.
Hope to hear your comments.

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Another fire at IOC terminal

A petrol tank at the Hazira terminal of IOC has caught fire and efforts are underway to control the fire. See details and photos in this link. I hope the investigation report is made public just like the major fire at Jaipur in 2009.


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Where do your safety valves discharge?

A recent incident in a plant due to power failure caused a safety valve to pop and release toxic chemical to the atmosphere. The residents around the plant complained. The safety valve discharged to a vent stack. Check where your safety valves discharge. Even though the codes allow discharge to atmosphere in certain cases, the weather conditions at the time of discharge can never be predicted and dispersion modelling can never be 100% accurate.
 
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Dangers of oxidising chemicals

Oxidizing chemicals give off oxygen or other oxidizing substances and also include materials that react chemically to oxidize combustible materials. Oxidizing chemicals can be severe fire and explosion hazards. Read a good description in this link. 

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HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013

To all my readers, wish you and your family a very happy, healthy and safe 2013!
I request readers to share some incidents from their experience to benefit all.

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List of frequently used tank standards

 Read a list of frequently used tanks design standards in this link. 

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Refinery explosion video

In September 2012 an explosion took place at a refinery in Mexico. Cause is being investigated. A you tube video of the explosion graphically demonstrates the severity of explosions. It is reported that 26 people were killed. See the video in this link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5EhjBd_lY0
You will see an operator rolling in the ground in the foreground after the fireball.

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Hazards of nitrogen

Last month I had mentioned about a fatality of a trainee engineer due to nitrogen. See a ppt on the hazards of nitrogen in this link. Share it with all your colleagues.

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SIS in field instrumentation

 Read a good article http://www.automationworld.com/sis-field-instrumentation


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Water reactive chemical incident

In 1996, an OSHA office investigated an explosion and fire which occurred at a custom chemical blending ("toll blending") facility, resulting in the deaths of five employees and the destruction of the facility. The report mentions that "The employees were in the process of making "Gold Precipitating Agent" by blending 5,400 lbs. of sodium hydrosulfite, 1,800 lbs. of aluminum powder, 900 lbs. of potassium carbonate, and 8 liters of benzaldehyde. Sodium hydrosulfite and aluminum powder are highly water reactive and aluminum powder in this quantity has catastrophic potential. Neither of these materials are covered by 29 CFR 1910.119. The employer's representatives stated that they relied on the information in the material safety data sheets (MSDSs) to perform a brief hazard review. This review failed to identify the hazards of that mixture. The mixing was done in a 125 cubic foot blender that had a water-cooled mechanical seal. It is very likely that water inadvertently entered the blend. Mechanical seals are known throughout the industry to be prone to this type of failure. Symptoms of a leak were noted and reported, but only to employees who did not know that water reactive chemicals were to be blended. A mechanical problem developed with the liquid feed system, which had not been checked prior to the addition of the dry ingredients. This caused a deviation from the standard operating procedures and the dry ingredients remained in the blender for a much longer period than originally anticipated. Water entering the subsurface caused the sodium hydrosulfite and possibly the aluminum powder to react, slowly at first. The large volume of powder did not conduct heat readily and the exothermic reaction intensified. In response to noxious gases being released, the employer decided to unload the blender, based upon the information in the MSDS for the finished blend. During the unloading process, an ignition and explosion occurred, propelling the vessel and its concrete supports approximately 48 feet. The pressure wave destroyed part of the facility and caused four of the five deaths; the fifth employee was killed by the ensuing fire, which destroyed most of the plant"
Read the complete details in this link

 
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The importance of proper jointing of flanges

Many major incidents start with a leak from a flange joint that then escalates rapidly when the leaking chemical catches fire.   A good article on the proper jointing of flanges and gaskets is available in this link.

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Ethylene Oxide Safety

The American Chemistry Council has  a good Ethylene Oxide Product Stewardship guidebook which should be read by all people handling it. Read it in this link.

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Sight glass accident

Thanks to Abhay Gujar for sending news about a sight glass breakage incident which has reportedly killed one person in a refinery in the USA. Read about the incident in this link.

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Hazards of operating pumps in dead headed conditions

A safety alert mentions the dangers of operating pumps with suction and discharge closed and the pump continuing to operate, resulting in overheating of the trapped liquid inside the pump. Pump explosion incidents have been mentioned in the alert. The alert sends me back 30 years when I was shift in charge in an ammonia plant and a naphtha pump had been inadvertently started  with suction and discharge closed. It was my night shift and I was making my plant rounds soon after taking charge when I saw a red glow. I rushed to the spot and the whole pump was glowing red. I stopped the pump and we allowed it to cool down. Guess God was my saviour as I would not have been here today if the pump had exploded!!

Read the safety alert in this link.

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Refinery fire - update

Chevron has published a update in September on their findings of the refinery fire at Richmond. You can view it in this link.

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