Role of HR in Safety

Mr M.K.Rao, Executive Director of India Glycols Limited has written a good article on "Role of HR in Safety". You can read the article in this link.  My thanks to him.

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Seven dead as tanker overturns - The Hindu

Seven dead as tanker overturns - The Hindu



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Process safety management internal audit survey

I would appreciate if, for those who are running PSM systems, you answer this survey (8 questions). Results will be published in the blog later.
Take the survey in this link.


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Fire in chemical unit

A fire in a  chemical unit in Udaipur has gutted the unit. In the pictures in the news report in this link, you can see remnants of barrels that have caught fire. Often, plants store chemicals in barrels on roads due to lack of space. This practice is a waiting time bomb. Barrels exposed to heat from a fire can explode violently and  spread the fire rapidly. 

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Confined space accident kills 7

 The Hindu Business Line has reported a confined space accident in a textile mill in Erode where 7 workers lost their lives. Apparently, the accident took place when maintenance work was taking place in a sunken pit in a ETP, when a valve broke and released poisonous fumes. The would be rescuers ( 6 of them) entered the  pit one by one to rescue the others and died. Please emphasize in your training the importance of rescuers NOT to enter any space for rescue unless they are adequately protected. This incident  is a tragic loss of life
Read about the incident in this link.


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When the back up fails........

 When I was working in Saudi Arabia, the 3000MTD gas based methanol plant was operated with state of the art DCS systems. Just before a planned turnaround, instrument personnel were working with some control room underfloor cables when, by mistake, all power to the DCS displays were lost. It was restored after 30 minutes. The plant parameters were maintained throughout the upset without any safety issue as the controllers in auto were doing their job. However a case study presented in 2012 by Shri KC Tripathy and others of NTPC shows how safety hazards cropped up during "complete and simultaneous DCS failure in two 500MW units"
The case study mentions among other useful learnings, the following:
"All processors (active and redundant) abruptly rebooted at once. Thereby both redundant network & redundant processor concepts of DCS design were defeated".

 Read the case study in this link.



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Common causes of flange leaks

Often flanges are a source of leaks, causing release of hazardous chemicals that may result in a fire or toxic chemical exposure. Read a good article on the basic causes of such leaks in this link.
 

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Process safety - voluntary or regulatory?

I read an interesting editorial in the "Record" about the above subject. Worth reading in this link.


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Lessons from NASA astronaut "water in helmet" incident

In July 2013, during a spacewalk outside the International space station, an astronaut reported water entry into his helmet. He was asked to get back only after he made three calls saying the water didn’t appear to be from a drinking bag. Later it was found out that the drinking bag was not the problem and a choked filter was the cause of the leak. The NASA investigation report mentions some of the reasons for the incident as inadequate training, the crew members and ground misunderstanding the severity of the situation, and a (false) perception that any water leak is likely due to a problem with the drinking bag. Do not normalize deviations!
Read more: http://www.universetoday.com/109814/as-astronauts-helmet-filled-with-water-he-told-nasa-three-times-it-wasnt-from-the-drinking-bag/#ixzz2uuMFin1Z

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A Century of Controversy, Accidents in West Virginia’s Chemical Valley in Lead-up to Spill

A Century of Controversy, Accidents in West Virginia’s Chemical Valley in Lead-up to Spill

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Moving scaffolding near HT cables

In 2012, there was an electrocution incident in China, when painters moving mobile scaffolding contacted a 10000 V electrical line. The CCTV video in this link illustrates the dangers of high voltages. It is graphic and not for the faint hearted. See the video in this link.


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Case study on fire incident in cooling tower

 Read and share this good case study from Oil Industry Safety Directorate. The recommendations, I think speak for themselves, where the issues were.

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Sulphuric acid leak in refinery injures two

A leak from a sulphuric acid pipe in a refinery in USA  has reportedly injured two employees. It appears that workers in the refinery were "afraid" as acid leaks continued to occur frequently. Incidentally, the company has not allowed CSB investigators to pursue their investigation. Read about the incident in this link.


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Pneumatic test accident

The dangers of pneumatic testing is again highlighted by an incident where a 335 litre vessel exploded during the test, causing a worker to loose his legs. Read about the incident in this link

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Misuse of expansion bellows as pipe supports leads to accident

An incident in a pharma company in the UK where bromine sprayed a worker causing severe injuries has been attributed to the bellows used to support pipe work and also corrosion of the bolts of the bellows. Read the incident and causes in this link


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Thumb rules for mechanical seals

Mechanical seal failures cause a hazardous chemical to come out with severe consequences. A very practical rules of thumb for mechanical seals written by Mc Nally (who has 35 years of experience) can be found in this link.


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Chemical plant fire -photos

See 27 photos of the fire in this link.
You can see the pool fire also. Worth noticing is the pressure of the water in the fire water monitors which help to keep surrounding equipment cool


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Pictures from Chingari Trust

As readers are aware, the proceeds from my book go to the Chingari Trust in Bhopal, who take care of the children affected by the Bhopal Gas Disaster. As humans we often react only when it happens to us. The legacy of Bhopal must never be forgotten. Please see some pictures about the activities sent by the trust

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High pressure water jet machine accident

An accident during a high pressure jet machine usage is given in this link

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Chlorine leak affects many

A news report mentions about an accident on NH 75  on the Jharkhand UP border caused a truck carrying chlorine tonners to turn turtle, resulting in the bursting of some tonners. More than 100 persons are reportedly affected.It appears that bad road conditions led to the truck overturning.
Read about the incident in this link.


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