Gas leak in Chhattisgarh’s Bhilai steel plant, 6 killed, 40 injured

A tragic accident where 6 people lost their lives when a water line to scrubber ruptured and gas leaked out: (two DGM's among those killed)

Times of India Gas leak in Chhattisgarh’s Bhilai steel plant, 6 killed, 40 injured
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gas-leak-in-Chhattisgarhs-Bhilai-steel-plant-6-killed-40-injured/articleshow/36450920.cms

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How secure are your redundant systems?

An article in the Guardian highlights the importance of functional testing of your redundant systems. In the incidents mentioned, two helicopters of identical make faced a main lubrication oil system failure while airborne. Though the back up system came on line, an alarm indicated that it was not working properly, so the crew had to make emergency landings in the sea. Later it was found out that the back up system was indeed working fine, but the alarm was wrongly configured.
Read the article in this link. 


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Fire in Refinery

A news article mentions about a fire in a Chinese refinery in the sulphur recovery section. Interestingly, it mentions that the fire reignited a few hours after it was put off due to "chemical reaction of combustible material in an oil tank with fire extinguishing foam".

Read the article in this link. 

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Basics of flammability

A good basic primer on flammability, explosion protection and flammable gas detectors can be found in this link. 
PS: I am not endorsing any product - this is for information only.


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Ammonia leak hospitalises 54

An ammonia leak due to an apparent pipe burst in a fish processing plant in Tamilnadu has sent 54 of the workers to hospital. The reason is under investigation.
The ammonia leak incidents at the users end as well as incidents related with fireworks are on the increase in India. This is a good case for Large chemical manufacturing companies to take up the education and safety precautions for the small scale industries which handle hazardous chemicals.

Read about the incident in this link.


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Massive fire in Dutch plant

Explosion and fire at Dutch Chemical plant - BBC news


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Proposed changes after oil rig accident

The Coast Guard issued a Federal Register Notice of recommended interim voluntary guidelines concerning mobile offshore drilling units, or MODUs, and manned fixed and floating offshore facilities engaged in activities on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. This is part of the Coast Guard’s continuing response to the explosion, fire and sinking of the MODU DEEPWATER HORIZON in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010.

- See more at: http://mariners.coastguard.dodlive.mil/2014/05/02/522014-federal-register-notice-of-outer-continental-shelf-units-fire-and-explosion-analyses/#sthash.zFvYwSqf.dpuf

The Report highlighted the following considerations as areas not specifically addressed by current regulations:
Minimum values are needed for explosion design loads for use in calculating the required blast resistance of structures;
Explosion risk analysis of the design and layout of each facility should be performed to identify high risk situations;
H-60 rated fire boundaries between the drilling area and adjacent accommodation spaces and spaces housing vital safety equipment may be necessary dependent on the arrangement of the facility;
Uniform guidelines for performing engineering evaluations to ensure adequate protection of bulkheads and decks separating hazardous areas from adjacent structures and escape routes for likely drill floor fire scenarios are necessary;
Performance-based fire risk analysis should be used to supplement the prescriptive requirements in the MODU Code; such analysis should use defined heat flux loads to calculate necessary levels of protection for structures, equipment, and vital systems that could be affected by fires on the drill floor;
Maximum allowable radiant heat exposure limits for personnel at the muster stations and lifesaving appliance launching stations in anticipated evacuation scenarios should be implemented.

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Tanker explosion

An oil tanker after unloading its cargo of oil has exploded off the coasts of Japan. Apparently, a grinder was being used to clear paint from the walls of the ship when the explosion occurred. Do not underestimate the dangers of hot work even in a so called empty tank. The force of the explosion has ripped open thick metal sheets as you can see in the video in this link. 

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Explosion in 3 D printing firm

New technologies but old hazards - A 3-D printing company, was cited by OSHA after an explosion and fire , which inflicted third-degree burns to an employee. The company was using combustible metal powders like titanium and aluminium alloys in the 3D printing process. There were no Class D metal fire extinguishers on-site during the explosion and fire.

"Establishments that use metal powders in this new technology need to scrutinize their processes and take steps to prevent and protect their employees from fire and explosion hazards that arise with these materials," said Robert Hooper, OSHA's acting regional administrator.

Read the details in this link.

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Short cuts are wrong cuts - death by H2S

I came across a powerful youtube video about an accident involving hydrogen sulphide in 2008 in the Middle East where 3 people died. The accident occurred in a pit which was open to atmosphere but contained hydrogen sulphide in the bottom.The reason was taking shortcuts and not obtaining a permit. There are lessons to be learnt from this video, my thanks to whoever has shared this on you tube , as it can save many many lives. Ensure all your employees see this video......in this link.

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Reactive chemical incident due to human error

In 2012, a tragic accident in a pharma plant in Ireland claimed the lives of two employees. Apparently, the cause was due to human error in a batch reactor, when the reactants were charged without charging solvent first. The rapid reaction took place without the solvent in place to absorb the heat. This caused the reactor to explode. A news article mentions that one of the ambulances that took one victim was later found so contaminated with chemicals that it was decommissioned.
When you know that certain reactions can dangerously overheat if the operator forgets a step, proper engineering controls should be implemented.
Read the details of the accident in this link.

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One killed, six injured in NLC steam pipeline burst - The Hindu

One killed, six injured in NLC steam pipeline burst - The Hindu

It appears that the unit in which the accident occurred was over 50 years old and that residual life assessment studies were carried out. Will have to wait for the investigation to understand what happened.



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Williams Cos. reeling from four explosions at facilities in less than year - Tulsa World: Business

Williams Cos. reeling from four explosions at facilities in less than year - Tulsa World: Business

The article explains how a series of accidents have occurred at a company which had a good safety record.



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Accident at nuclear power plant - learn lessons

The accident at the newly commissioned Kudankulam power plant highlights the importance of line breaking permits. It appears that while maintenance crew were at work on the shutdown reactor, hot water at about 70 deg C came out of a valve, injuring the workers. While handing over equipment for maintenance, be careful about pockets of trapped hazardous material. Look for any dead legs, which could store them.

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Fatal accident during demolition of tank

When you are demolishing a tank or vessel, take adequate care. Conduct a hazard and risk assessment with the demolishing team to make sure the correct method is used. An incident occurred when a  tank being pulled down by an excavator collapsed on the cab of the excavator. Read about it in this link.
 
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Fatal accident due to pipe explosion

A good case study on the importance of ensuring proper positive isolation and ensuring the line is gas freed before any hot work is done is given in this link.


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Refinery attack In Algeria - Lessons Learnt

On 16 January 2013, terrorists attacked a convoy of gas refinery workers as they departed the housing area of a Refinery in eastern Algeria. The incident led to a four-day siege resulting in the deaths of 38 hostages.
 Read the article of how the emergency was declared by a security guard, (who later died) in this link

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Big is beautiful

Shell is building the Worlds first FLNG (Floating LNG production facility) called the Prelude. Watch the youtube video of the launch of the structure from the dry docks in this link. 
Worth watching is the mesmerising work of the tugboats as they steer the Prelude into the sea. The facility is planned to go into operation in 2017.

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Micro reactors and process safety

Researchers at Fraunhofer (Europe’s largest application-oriented research organization) have demonstrated how mcro reactors can be used to safely produce even explosives. Read the interesting article in this link.

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Hydrogen from CO2 and sunlight

An interesting article in the Times of India mentions the experiment of producing hydrogen using carbon dioxide and sunlight. Worth a read in this link.


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