3d printing and process safety

The news has been full of reports of how a company put their plan for 3D printing of a plastic gun on the net and how one person was even able to fire a bullet from it. It appears right now that the printer prints using plastic material. The advantages claimed are accuracy, less wastage. An article by Bloomberg  "Your future will be made by 3D printers" is interesting to read.

In the future, maybe 3D printing will improve process safety by eliminating manufacturing defects!!


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Drones for flare tip inspection

While we read about drones being used for military purposes, here is another use for them -a refinery has used a drone fitted with a camera for inspection of the flare tip while refinery was in operation. Now this is what I call as innovative usage of technology! Read the article in this link. 

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A confined space fatality

Three years ago, a experienced person (17 years experience) lost his life when he entered a space inside a ship that was inerted with nitrogen. This, through he was trained and experienced.
 Read the accident report in this link.

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Another hot work tank explosion

A refinery in China experienced a hot work accident that killed two workers. Apparently the tank in which the accident took place was decommissioned. Ensure you take all precautions when doing hot work on tanks.
Read the news articles in these links:
Tank explosion 1
Tank explosion 2

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Vessel blast kills one

In a fertilizer manufacturing facility very close to the Louisana unit, one person was killed when a vessel ruptured when it was being pressurized with nitrogen.
Read about the incident in this link.

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Photos of the fire in chemical plant

See photos of the fire in the chemical plant in Louisana in this link

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Explosion in chemical plant

An explosion in a chemical plant (manufacturing ethylene/propylene) in Louisana has killed one person and injured several. We have to wait for the CSB to investigate and report the findings.
Read about the incident in this link
Watch the video in this link.

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Rescuers die in a confined space rescue

A tragic accident where two rescuers lost their lives trying to rescue two persons who had lost consciousness inside a chimney is reported in a bio gas plant under construction in Thailand. This incident stresses the need for training would be rescuers. World over, many deaths continue to occur as rescuers enter confined space without proper protection and loose their lives. Read the incident in this link. 

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Process safety leadership survey results

A total of 55 readers undertook the survey and I thank them for their participation. The results are given below:
 

1. How much do you think are your top management really committed to process safety?

Very much                                                         39.2 %   

Sometimes                                                        25.9%   

Needs improvement

(they say something and do something else)  34.9%   

2. In times of production problems, do you think process safety gets bypassed according to the urgency?

 Yes                    22.9%   

Sometimes        60.4%   

Never                 16.7%   

3. Do your PSM audit findings receive adequate follow up from top management?

 Yes                                                46.8%   

Needs improvement                      53.2%   

4. Do your inspection departments findings get overruled by top management to maintain production?

 Yes, but with a technical basis     47.9%   

Yes, without a technical basis       25.0%   

No, never                                       27.1%   

5. Do you get contradicting signals from top management regarding process safety?

 No, never              41.7%  

Yes, sometimes    56.3%   

Yes, always           2.0%     

6. Do you feel the root cause analysis of process incidents and near misses really bring out the root causes?

Yes                       72.9%   

No                         27.1%   

                             

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Treat tanks with care

Storage Tank Safety | Treat Tanks with Care | Chemical Processing




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Follow safety norms or face closure, Andhra Pradesh Minister warns units | The Hindu

Follow safety norms or face closure, Andhra Pradesh Minister warns units | The Hindu

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Lessons from the near miss at Heathrow airport

Last week, a plane had to make an emergency landing at Heathrow airport soon after take off as one of the engines failed. No one was injured. Preliminary investigations have revealed that the engine cowls (covers) on both the engines were left unlocked and came off during take off, damaging the engine and other parts.
The air accident investigation board's report indicates that there had been 32 previously reported fan cowl door detachment events, 80% of which had occurred during the takeoff phase of flight!

Read the report in this link. 



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Survey on Process Safety leadership

Dear Readers,
Request you to participate in a survey I have created for process safety leadership. There are seven multiple choice questions and would take very less time to fill it. Your responses will be anonymous.
Survey results will be published on the blog. Survey closing date is 6.6.13. Thank you!

Take the survey in this link. 



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Fire in HPCL refinery

A fire that lasted about 6 hours has been reported in a refinery at Visakhapatnam. No casulaties were reported. Read about the incident by Indian Express in these links

Major fire at HPCL Visakha refinery

Fire: Emergency systems saved HPCL


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Do Your Thermowells Meet the ASME Standard?

Worth a read!

Do Your Thermowells Meet the ASME Standard?

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Process Safety for fresh engineers

I often get fresh engineers sending me e-mails about a career in process safety. I tell them that they must have a minimum of 10 years in operational experience to really think about a career in process safety. Process Safety cannot be learnt only from textbooks - it needs a deeper understanding on how organisations work and the human issues involving process safety. ASME has brought out a video about process safety for fresh engineers in this link.

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Wireless and explosion proof instruments

 Read a good article on wireless instruments and how they can be made explosion proof or intrinsically safe in this link.
PS: The article is for information only and I am not recommending any product.
 
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Flash fire in plastics unit in USA

On May 2nd, a flash fire occurred at a major plastics producer in the USA.This site had experienced a major fire in 2005 which the CSB had investigated. In the current fire it was reported that few workers were burned.
See a video and news article in this link

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Behaviour Based Safety - Take it with a pinch of salt!

I am always of the view that if behavior based safety has to succeed, the behavior of top management should be corrected first. For example, in an organization if top management keep saying safety is important and do not support their actions with visible and cost committed actions, nothing will change. The Indian culture follows the rule "the boss is always right". So in most Indian organisations, it is something short of blasphemy to observe and report top managements behaviour!
When I was working as a Plant manager 25 years ago, the bosses right up to the top were always displaying the correct behaviour mainly because they were technocrats and had command over the other non technocrats in the organization. The United Steel Workers union in USA has a take on behavior based safety which is worth reading from this link. (large file...be patient).

 Do you have a BBS program going on in your facility? I would like to seek feedback from you about your experience.

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Welder killed in sulphuric acid tank accident

News reports indicate a welder was killed yesterday at a Chemical manufacturing plant in South India when the lid of a sulphuric acid tank burst "when he was trying to open it". Further details are not known.
Time and again we are seeing repeats of sulphuric acid tank explosions. Train your operators about the hazards of sulphuric acid tanks and hydrogen generation in the tanks due to corrosion of carbon steel.

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