Three killed in Chemical leak at Ankleshwar

Thanks to Mr Sunil Chauhan for sharing news about an incident that has killed three people. Times of India reports that "A chemical process involving acrylonitrile and carbon tetra chloride was being carried out. "This process needs a proper temperature control. The persons responsible failed to control the high temperature that led to a reaction and subsequent leakage of the gas from a gasket of a reactor. We are investigating whether the company had installed proper gasket. Preliminary findings indicate that automatic temperature control valve was not installed," sources said."

Read the article in this link. 


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Global Chemicals outlook - UNEP

UNEP has published a very informative global chemicals outlook and has given recommendations for the sustainable growth of the industry. Indian chemical manufacturing is projected to grow 59% in the period 2012 to 2020. The sound management of Process safety will become more and more important as the industry faces high attrition rates and management succession gaps. Read the report in this link.

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CEO faces bonus cut due to incidents

A news article mentions that the CEO of a chemical giant faces cuts in his bonus due to major incidents under his tenure. Many organizations are now linking process safety performance as one of the items to calculate incentives.
Read the article in this link. 


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Blast in API unit - DGM production arrested

The Hindu (AP edition) today reports that the DGM production of an API manufacturing unit in Andhra Pradesh has been arrested for a blast that killed two persons in January.  The news item mentions that "after a magisterial enquiry, it was established that plastic pipes were used for pumping the chemicals instead of metal pipes. It was also said that sub standard pipes were used."

Read about the incident that happened in January in this link.

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PVC pipe explosion incident

A safety alert by MSHA indicates the dangers of PVC primer trapped in enclosed spaces that caused a PVC pipeline to explode. Read about the incident in this link.


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Sight glass failure incident

Read about a sight glass failure incident due to wrong pressure rating in this link.


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Are you giving importance to maintaining steel structures?

Corrosion is a cancer that spread very fast. There have been many cases of structures collapsing due to the weakened support structure. An article by the department of minerals and energy, Western Australia succinctly explains why you must maintain your plant structures. Read it in this link.

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Incident due to scaffolding

An incident where a scaffolding pipe slipped and the scaffolder was saved by his safety harness highlights the importance of check couplings for suspended scaffolds.
The key lessons learnt from the incident as mentioned in scaffmag.com are

• "It is considered good practice to install check couplers above the suspension scaffolding coupler as described in AS/NZS 4576 Guidelines for scaffolding.
• The scaffold should be visually inspected by the work party prior to using the scaffold.
• Scaffolds should be inspected regularly by a competent person.
• Only equipment within its certification period should be used.
• Safety equipment should be suitably rated for the personnel using it.
• Fall arrest equipment should be anchored at a suitably rated anchor point.
• The rescue plan should reflect the hazards the job presents rather than using a generic rescue plan for all scaffold jobs".

 Read about the incident in this link. 

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Tragic incident in confined space - lessons to be learnt

I read about a very tragic incident involving an ISO container containing liquified air conditioning propellant kept inside a ships hold. The safety valve on the ISO container was passing and the released gas displaced the oxygen inside the hold. Three men died in this incident, including the brother in law of the first victim. The brother in law entered the hold through another way though he had been told not to enter the hold after the first victim collapsed. There are a number of lessons to be learnt from this incident in our industry and please share the incident with all your operations and maintenance staff.

The incident is available in this link.


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Safety system incident

A fire extinguishing system on a ship was inadvertently disabled because though the valve handle position indicated that the valve was open, the actual valve was closed. Read the incident in this link.


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CSB report on furnace explosion

The CSB has issued a report on the carbide furnace explosion. The CSB states that:

"The investigation report proposed two scenarios for the development of cooling water leaks that likely resulted in the overpressure and explosion. In one scenario, fouling – or the accumulation of solids inside the hollow chamber where water flows – resulted in localized overheating, eventually causing sections of the cover to sag and crack. 

           

 Another possible cause of the leaks could have been the sudden eruption of hot liquid from the furnace, which operators called a “boil-up.” Hot liquids contact the underside of the furnace cover, eroding its ceramic lining, and eventually melting holes through which water leaks. Post-incident examination revealed recurring water leaks in multiple zones of the furnace cover. Rather than replacing the furnace cover, the company directed workers to attempt repairs. The investigation found that the company would inject a mixture of oats and commercially available “boiler solder” into the cooling water, in an effort to plug the leaks and keep the aging cover in operation.

 

 Water leaks into the furnace interfere with the steady introduction of lime and coke raw materials, through an effect known as “bridging” or “arching,” the report noted. In a carbide-producing electric arc furnace, this can result in an undesirable and hazardous side reaction between calcium carbide and lime, which produces gas much more rapidly that the normal reaction to produce calcium carbide itself. Industry literature described the phenomenon as early as 1965, and an independent CSB analysis confirmed that operating conditions at Carbide on the day of the incident could have resulted in this effect, causing hot materials to be expelled from the furnace.

             

 CSB lead investigator Johnnie Banks said, “One of our key findings was that Carbide Industries issued 26 work orders to repair water leaks on the furnace cover in the five months prior to the March 2011 incident. It was distressing to find that the company nonetheless continued operating the furnace despite the hazard from ongoing water leaks. We also found that the company could have prevented this incident had it voluntarily applied elements of a process safety management program, such as hazard analysis, incident investigation, and mechanical integrity.”

Read the report in this link. 


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Time pressures compromising maintenance safety | Business news | Process Engineering

Time pressures compromising maintenance safety | Business news | Process Engineering

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Take precautions while testing safety valves

An article mentions the hazards while testing boiler safety valves. In a real life incident, two people were seriously hurt when a failure occurred after the test. Good suggestions are given in the article which you can read in this link.


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Thermal runaway reaction - on planes?

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been grounded due to a battery that caught fire earlier this month. Investigators are now indicating that possible reasons could be short-circuiting and a thermal runaway reaction, though they are not sure which came first.In our industry, there are many reasons for thermal runaway reactions in batch processes but the most common one I see is lack of understanding of reaction hazards during scale up. Spending money on identifying reaction scale up hazards is often not done due to the cost involved and later when an incident does occur, it is too late.
Read a news article on the investigation of the dreamliner battery fire in this link.

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Cell phone triggered IOC fire?

A news item in Hindustan Times mentions that an interim investigation suspects that contractors carried their cell phones to the top of the petrol tank which caught fire. It quotes the IOC's interim report as “It appears that the contractors’ workmen had climbed the tank and may have inadvertently provided the source of ignition.”
Read the article in this link.

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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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Lessons from Buncefield

Further to my post on the anniversary of Bhopal disaster, I am quoting below from the HSE UK report on the Buncefield oil depot fire (2005) investigation:

"This report does not identify any new learning about major accident prevention. Rather it serves to reinforce some important process safety management principles that have been known for some time:
There should be a clear understanding of major accident risks and the safety critical equipment and systems designed to control them.

This understanding should exist within organisations from the senior management down to the shop floor, and it needs to exist between all organisations involved in supplying, installing, maintaining and operating these controls.

There should be systems and a culture in place to detect signals of failure in safety critical equipment and to respond to them quickly and effectively.

In this case, there were clear signs that the equipment was not fit for purpose but no one questioned why, or what should be done about it other than ensure a series of temporary fixes.

Time and resources for process safety should be made available.

The pressures on staff and managers should be understood and managed so that they have the capacity to apply procedures and systems essential for safe operation.

Once all the above are in place: 
There should be effective auditing systems in place which test the quality of management systems and ensure that these systems are actually being used on the ground and are effective.

At the core of managing a major hazard business should be clear and positive process safety leadership with board-level involvement and competence to ensure that major hazard risks are being properly managed"
 
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National Process Safety Week on anniversary of Bhopal disaster December 3rd

Today is the 28th anniversary of the Bhopal gas disaster. We still do not seem to learn from Bhopal. The same mistakes that occurred at Bhopal keep recurring in various incidents around the World. Production pressures along with cost cutting measures take a toll on process safety. Just like the National safety week in march, I moot the idea of having a National Process Safety Week every year on the anniversary of Bhopal for all chemical industries in India. During this week, the root causes of the Bhopal disaster and process incidents in individual organisations can be discussed with all  employees including top management. The root causes are again given below: They are still relevant today:
1. Do not cut costs without looking at the effects on process safety
2. Maintain all your layers of defense including asset integrity
3. Continually ensure that competency of personnel operating and maintaining plants are updated and current
4. Be prepared for the worst case scenario.
5. Understand the risks and measures to eliminate / reduce or control them
6. Learn from your past incidents. Those who do not learn are condemned to repeat the incidents.
7. Pay heed to your process safety management system audit reports

 I am again attaching the link of some pictures of the victims of Bhopal, lest we forget..........

" Mothers didn't know their children had died, children didn't know their mothers had died, and men didn't know their whole families had died" - Ahmed Khan, Bhopal resident on the Bhopal disaster
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The hydrogen explosion at Fukushima

 For those of you who wondered how there could be a hydrogen explosion in the Fukushima incident, see the good powerpoint explanation given by Dragoslav Nikezic of the University of Kragujevac in this link. 

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Sulphuric acid mist leak incident

A news article reports a small leak of sulphuric acid mist  from a DuPont plant in USA. Read about it and watch the video in this link.

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Pumps and process safety

Pumps are the lifeline for a chemical unit. Often we tend to forget the basics and this causes problems which may lead to a process safety incident. Read a good presentation called " Where can we go wrong in pump design?" by 
Dick Hawrelak in this link.

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Fire during transfer of hydrogen peroxide

Times of India has reported that " 16  workers and two fire and rescue services personnel were injured in a fire at an industrial unit in the SIPCOT industrial estate in Cuddalore on Wednesday when workers were engaged in transferring inflammable chemical hydro peroxide from a container imported from China into 190kg barrels and in transporting the barrels to the godown. One of the barrels slipped while transporting and the chemical inside leaked leading to the fire."

See a photo of the fire in this link.


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SUlphuric acid tank collapse

 An incident in 2005 caused a sulphuric acid tank to collapse causing 11000 MT of acid to leak out. The acid reached the sea and caused a reaction setting off a cloud. Luckily the wind direction was towards the sea and there were no fatalities. The cause of the incident was due to a bursting of a pipe (contents not mentioned) that weakened the foundation of the tank, causing the tank to collapse!
 
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Pipe replacement in refinery - update

Further to my earlier post regarding replacement of material of construction of the pipes in the refinery which had a major fire, someone has sent me this link for an update on the subject
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Chevron-pipe-dispute-could-deter-restart-4051867.php#ixzz2Clk9QVjJ


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Power failure causes SO2 leak

A transformer failure in a smelter in Australia caused a leak of So2 and So3 gases from the acid plant. Ensure that your utilities are well maintained as they have a direct effect on process safety. Read about the incident in this link.

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Pipe rupture accident in ammonia plant

A high pressure pipe rupture in an ammonia plant during start up has been reported. A news article mentions that d a contract worker who sustained lacerations to the head and another employee complained of aches and pains from being pushed against the wall during the pressure wave. Read the article in this link.

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Positive material identification

I recently investigated an incident caused by counterfeit material of construction. How good is your positive material identification system? Be careful as there are a lot of counterfeit material being offered at low cost which may be tempting to buy but will cause a major process incident later.

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Pipe replacement in refinery after incident

Chevron's refinery which experienced a fire last August has mentioned that they are replacing materials of construction of certain pipes with chrome alloy to avoid corrosion problems. Read the article in this link.

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Incomaptibility incident

An incident caused a fatality when sodium hydrogen sulphide was accidentally unloaded in to a tank containing dilute sulphuric acid causing H2S generation. Read about the incident in this link.

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AVoid Verbal Instructions!

A friend send me this. Avoid Verbal Instructions... no offense meant to anyone but it is a powerful lesson!

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Applying Tank Farm safety Standards for India - Honeywell paper

A good article by Honeywell India about Applying Tank farm safety standards in India can be read in this link.

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Industrial Control Room: The Control Room of the Future - Smarter Reality

 Industrial Control Room: The Control Room of the Future - Smarter Reality

 
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Worlds Largest ammonia storage tanks

For my friends in the fertilizer industry, QAFCO is building the World's largest ammonia storage tanks, each of 50,000 MT capacity. I started my career in ammonia plant in 1979 when tank capacities were 5000 MT!!
The new tanks are single wall with concrete containment.
Read more in this link.

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Tank design standards

I often see tanks not being given their due importance by process engineers when modifications are being carried out. Many modifications are done without the use of proper engineering standards. A tank failure can be catastrophic and a good article mentioning the basic precautions and standards to be followed is available in this link.

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Trainee engineer dies due to nitrogen

The Hindu newspaper has reported a fatality in a valve manufacturing company where a trainee engineer entered a cryogenic pit that was filled with nitrogen. It is sad that people continue to loose their lives due to this gas. Please share with all your colleagues. It may save a life. Read the article in this link.

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Bromine gas leak incident

Thanks to Abhay Gujar for sending news about a bromine gas leak. The Times of India reports that "Over 150 people needed treatment and three are in intensive care after bromine gas leaked from a pharmaceutical company in Dombivli's MIDC and spread over a 1-km radius area affecting over 2.5 lakh people. Anger and fear are frothing in the surrounding settlements as this was the fourth instance of carelessness with chemicals that has imperiled people in the industrial area in the past two months".

Read the full article in this link.

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Top management competency and process safety

I often interact with senior management regarding process safety issues and what I see presently troubles me. Over the years, the senior management in many chemical industries have gradually changed from hardcore chemical engineers and well experienced in plant operations and maintenance to those without a chemical engineering background and plant experience (finance and commercial background). Now this should not be a problem as long as the factory heads are in a position to assert their requirements in process safety and obtain the budgets necessary. But there is also a decline in the competency of factory heads in many units. The disease seems to be spreading and many future accidents are going to be attributed to this.
I don't know if there is a solution to this!
I would appreciate feedback from readers on how this works in their organization. You can mail me at bkprism@gmail.com
 
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H2S leak from oil well

Thanks to Vinod Kumar (my chemical engineering classmate!) for sending details of a H2S leak from an oil well which had reportedly reached Kuwait city. A news article mentions that the leak has been set afire to reduce the toxicity. See pictures and read the report in this link.

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Pipe opening hazards

Many accidents continue to occur when pipelines carrying hazardous materials are opened without proper clearing, resulting in accidents. The pressure to complete a job quickly results in major accidents
Read an excellent safety alert by the CSB regarding the hazards of pipeline opening in this link.

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Accident due to incompatibility

An accident in Germany has been reported due to the mistaken addition of an acid to a caustic soda storage tank. About 1400 people are reported to have been evacuated and the tank is being cooled. Read more in this link.

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Dead Leg hazards

A refinery in the USA has been cited for "not ensuring that inspection and testing procedures for process piping followed recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices for all dead leg piping circuits. The proposed penalty for the willful violation is $65,000".
Read the article in this link. 
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Another explosion in a Pharma unit

A news report mentions about explosions at a bulk drug unit in the Jawahalal Nehru Pharma City at Parawada. The explosions in apparently occurred in three mother liquid tankers and two diesel tanks.
Read the news article in this link

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Chlorine process safety

Please see a good presentation by Shri Harisaran Das on process safety in chlorine production in this link.

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Hydrofluoric acid leak in Korea

A hydrofluoric acid leak in Korea two weeks ago has hundreds of people evacuating. A news article mentions the following:
"The accident at a factory owned by Hube Korea, a local manufacturer of hydrofluoric acid used for the production of displays, has claimed five lives. More than 2,000 residents have also suffered from the effects of the acid on their skin, eyes and respiratory system, while some 300 local residents have opted to temporarily relocate".
Read the news article in this link.
A MSDS of HF mentions an incident where a lab technician dies two weeks after a spill covering 10% of his total body. The delayed effects of HF must be made known to everyone handling it. The MSDS also mentions that fatalities can occur even with 2.5% exposure of body area. The MSDS also explains how HF causes death. Worth a read for those handling HF. Read it in this link.

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Another reactor blast

A reactor blast has been reported at a bulk drugs unit in Andhra Pradesh on Friday.
Read related articles in these links
Link 1
Link2

Everytime an accident occurs in India, we rarely publicly get details of the root causes. When I compare this to the US, the CSB is doing a wonderful job by making all personnel aware of the root causes of many accidents in the chemical industry. If anyone has more details about the incident in AP, please share.


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Leak in breathing air hose causes incident

I read about an incident where a person entered a reactor which was under inert gas. He was wearing supplied air breathing apparatus. The catalyst was pyrophoric in nature. Unfortunately, the breathing air hose leaked when he was inside the reactor and his neck got burnt due to the pyrophoric catalyst dust that had accumulated on his suit.
Whenever you do an entry into a nitrogen filled atmosphere, be very careful and your JSA should take into account all possible eventualities.

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Hazards of Gas build up in drums

Many times, drums or barrels are used for storage of chemicals. Be careful about drums. They are potential time bombs if not handled and stored properly. In many places I audit, I see that drums are taken for granted. A safety bulletin mentions the hazards of storing chemicals in drums. The hazards include chemical reactions, decomposition, change in altitude or temperature, exposure of drums to heat. Read the safety bulletin in this link.

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Chlorine leak incident

FEMA of US has a good case study of a chlorine leak incident that occured in May 1991. It appears that the chlorine leak was caused by a brine leak that contacted the liquified gas. The mixture created corrosive acid which ate through pipes when product was transferred from the storage tank. Read about the incident and lessons learnt from this link.
 
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Duty time limitations for flight maintenance engineers

The DGCA ( Director General of Civil Aviation) has drafted duty time limitation for flight maintenance engineers to avoid human error. Much of what is mentioned in the draft holds good for chemical industries also. Read the draft advisory article in this link

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Firefighter dies in tank explosion

An explosion in an acrylic acid tank has killed a firefighter in Japan. A news article mentions the following:

"According to the city's fire department and other sources, a 5.6-meter-high acrylic acid storage tank with a diameter of 4.2 meters exploded at 2:35 p.m. Saturday when the company's fire crew members were spraying water on it. The tank that exploded is one of three contiguous tanks, and is the most southerly of the three. Following the explosion, the blaze apparently spread to the other two units.
Shortly before 1 p.m., a company employee reportedly discovered the temperature inside the tank was rising abnormally, prompting the in-house fire crew to spray water over the unit. However, the temperature did not fall.
At 1:51 p.m. the company called the fire department, saying dangerous chemical reactions could occur. At 2:05 p.m. the first batch of firefighters arrived at the plant. About 30 minutes later, the explosion occurred as they were preparing to spray down the tanks.
At that time, Yamamoto was reportedly trying to connect water-supply hoses for the operation, and was standing near a fire engine about 20 meters west of the tank that blew up.
About 50 to 60 employees and others were at the plant when the tank exploded"

Read the complete article in this link.


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Venezuela refinery fire - ppt

Thanks to G.Satyanarayana and Sanjeevi for sending details of the Venezuela refinery fire. You can see the ppt in this link.

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Asset Integrity policy

Maintaining the integrity of assets is of prime importance to process safety. Many a time, management looses focus on this important aspect. I read the asset integrity policy of Petrofac which, in my opinion is an excellent policy. I especially liked the last statement about responsibility and implementation.
Read Petrofac's asset integrity policy in this link. 
 
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Assessing Pressure Relief Needs | Chemical Processing

A good article on assessing thermal safety valve requirements is given in this link:

Assessing Pressure Relief Needs | Chemical Processing

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Crisis management

I read an interesting article in Forbes where an entire top two levels of the management team (50 persons) died in a plane crash. The article mentions how the new CEO addressed the issue and brought the company back into its tracks. Now this was not a chemical manufacturing company, but just imagine if the same thing had happened in a chemical manufacturing organization. Many companies do have strict travel rules for its top management to avoid this exact possibility, but in India, there is an inevitability about "fate" and often these rules are flouted.
Does your crisis management plan address these issues?
Read the article in this link.

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Process safety - Gasket failures

Gasket failures contribute to a large number of leaks and some of them could be catastrophic. With skill levels going down in India, sometimes a simple gasket that is improperly fixed could cause a big disaster. Are you training your technicians on the intricacies of selecting and fitting gaskets?  A good article by Garlock on the causes and cost of gasket failure highlight the various issues that are simple but are often forgotten.
Read the article in this link.
  
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Safety supervisor arrested in paint shop fire

A safety supervisor was arrested for a fire in a paint shop in a tyre factory. Another manager was also arrested for the fire that killed three Persons.
Read the article in this link. 

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Emergency situations and tiredness

An article in the Times Of India mentions that Air India cabin crew have started a campaign protesting the extra hours they were forced to work.The article mentions that the cabin crews alertness is most important in emergency situation and evacuations where time is of the essence. In a chemical plant, during emergencies, it is very similar to emergency situations in planes and the operating crew needs to be alert. When I was shift in charge and had operators continuing on overtime, (especially from evening to night shift), I have seen the errors committed by these operators during emergencies. It is a human need for rest and you cannot fight it. Look at your staffing requirements properly and ensure that competent people are available in adequate numbers.

Read the article in this link.


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Gas blowthrough incident

A gas blowthrough incident caused  H2S release from a tank roof. The cause of the gas blowthrough was due to a level control valve failure.Read the incident in this link.

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Pressure vessels and hazards

A US EPCRA newsletter highlights the rupture hazards of pressure vessels and their prevention in their newsletter. It covers case studies also. These are basic precautions to be taken for pressure vessels. Make sure you heed them!
Read the news letter in this link.

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CSB's Chairman's comment on refinery safety

In an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chairman of the CSB has commented on the spate of refinery accidents and says "I recently read some comments in the media suggesting that "accidents will happen" and suggesting that one bad mishap every few years is acceptable. It is not. The oil refinery industry has the resources to do a lot more to enhance process safety and thereby protect workers, neighbors and the country's increasing energy needs".

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Refineries-must-do-more-to-improve-safety-3851977.php#ixzz26DCbMlQz

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Common problems in gas processing facilities

Mr Vimal Kumar has listed 22 common problems faced in gas processing facilities in this link. Worth a read. 


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Tower malfunctions - 50 year history study

A good article by Henry Z Kister on"What caused tower malfunctions in the last 50 years" can be read in this link.

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Responsible Care - to make it work in India

The accident at the fireworks factory in Sivakasi highlights the need for enhancing safety in the chemicals and explosives industry. There are two aspects to safety - one is voluntary and the other is enforcement. I want to talk about the voluntary initiatives. Initiatives like Responsible Care (trademark of American Chemistry Council) etc  are adopted voluntarily by organisations. In India, the awarding of the Responsible Care logo is carried out by the Indian Chemical Council (an organisation of chemical manufacturing units). The proof of the pudding in awarding the logo lies in the company not experiencing any fatal accident after the award of the logo. If any fatal accident does occur in a company that has been awarded the logo, then the logo must be withdrawn by the awarding authority. Unless this happens, the public are not going to develop faith in the process.
In India, for Responsible Care, I suggest that companies must adopt one more code called " mentoring of small scale industry" around the location of the unit. This means that resources for improving the safety in nearby small scale industries must be voluntarily expended by the company. This will have a trickle down effect to improve safety in the whole chemical industry.

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The importance of pre start up safety review

OSHA has cited a company in the US that produces of liquid natural gas through a cryogenic process." The incident occurred while employees were restarting the process. Cryogenic liquids were improperly routed through equipment not rated to withstand extreme cold temperatures, resulting in the explosion and fire.The willful violation is for failing to conduct an analysis of pre-startup safety conditions and systematically managing changes to process-related technology, equipment, procedures and facilities".
Read the citation in this link.

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More pictures of Venezuela refinery fire

National Geographic have some excellent pictures of the Venezuela oil refinery fire in this link. 

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