When cranes collapse

See a video and photographs of crane accident that happened in Aug 15 in the Netherlands in this link
There are lessons to learn....

Contribute to the surviving victims of Bhopal by buying my book "Practical Process Safety Management"

Be careful when dealing with pressurised lines

A man was killed in an accident involving a high-pressure water line at a well site. The victim along with two other men

was trying to heat a frozen high-pressure water line when the line ruptured. The victim was hit by a stream of high pressure water  at a pressure of 3,500 to 4,500 psi.The victim died from the impact of the water.

Read another safety alert from HSE UK http://www.hse.gov.uk/safetybulletins/hydraulic-injection-injury.htm


Contribute to the surviving victims of Bhopal by buying my book "Practical Process Safety Management"

Sealant reinjection incident investigation

A paper presented in the Process safety congress at Dordrecht on June 4th, 2015 depicts the detailed incident investigation of the accident at a refinery in Antwerp in 2013 during sealant re injection. Read about it in this link.

 Contribute to the surviving victims of Bhopal by buying my book "Practical Process Safety Management"

Forty-Eight Case Histories of Intriguing Machinery Problems

Forty-Eight Case Histories of Intriguing Machinery Problems - Nelson Baxter, ABM Technical Services, Mooresville, Indiana


Contribute to the surviving victims of Bhopal by buying my book "Practical Process Safety Management"

Readers response to post

Mr M.K.Rao, Executive Director of India Glycols responded to my post "Of Mimic panels and Video walls - back to the past?"
His reply is as follows:

"The subject Blog item is interesting and highly relevant too.

When I entered the DMT control room (IPCL, Baroda) in the year 1981, the scene was similar. The space above the pneumatic controllers had a mimic panel that depicted the complete PFD. In addition, we had a model of the entire plant on a large table in the same control room at a corner. It made learning faster and we used to have a better feel of the process. It was easier to know what was going on at a glance.
 
Going by the best of Past & Present, I feel a combination of

1. DCS work stations
2. Mimic panel representing the complete/ continuous PFD like in the past (Instead of Video panels – which may appear broken)
3. A model (physical) of the plant right in the control room would help"

I agree with his valid suggestions and thank him for responding..
 

Contribute to the surviving victims of Bhopal by buying my book "Practical Process Safety Management"

Hydrogen explosion incident

 Read about a hydrogen explosion in a compressor in this link.


Contribute to the surviving victims of Bhopal by buying my book "Practical Process Safety Management"

Get To The Root Of Accidents | Chemical Processing

Get To The Root Of Accidents | Chemical Processing


Contribute to the surviving victims of Bhopal by buying my book "Practical Process Safety Management"

Dead leg incident

 Read an incident involving a piping dead leg in this link.

 Contribute to the surviving victims of Bhopal by buying my book "Practical Process Safety Management"

Of Mimic panels and Video walls - back to the past??

 I just returned from a large modern refinery. When I visited the control room, with large video walls, my thoughts went back to 1979 when I was operating an ammonia plant with pneumatic controllers and no DCS. The wall above the controllers had a mimic panel that depicted the complete process flow diagrammatically. This depiction covered the whole control room wall between the controllers and the ceiling, so it was large and easy to see.  The motors and pumps had running lamp indications in the panel. For 300 control loops, we had about 200 hard wired alarms located between the controllers in sets of 20.

See a concocted image of a mimic panel located above pneumatic controllers similar to the one I had used below:

The modern control room I visited looked similar to the one below, with large video walls:

I was recollecting the progress in instrumentation - from pneumatic control systems to electronic to DCS without video walls and now DCS with video walls. - back to the past!!!!
Technology can and will always be an enabler only and as long as human beings exist, human errors will continue...take for instance the modern day DCS. We have so many alarms that inundate the operator during plant upsets, that vendors now sell alarm suppression software! Why do we need that many alarms in the first place???

One important philosophy in Process Safety - KEEP IT SIMPLE AND DON'T FORGET THE PAST!!

Contribute to the surviving victims of Bhopal by buying my book "Practical Process Safety Management"

Fire in a laboratory of an industrial gas facility

Reports coming in of a fire in the laboratory of an industrial gas facility in Singapore. Reportedly one person was killed. Read about the incident and see the photos  in this link.

 Contribute to the surviving victims of Bhopal by buying my book "Practical Process Safety Management"

A temporary change causes a fatality

Temporary changes are dangerous if not managed properly. Read about an incident involving a temporary change that causes a fatality. This incident highlights what Dr trevor Kletz used to say "We do not know what we do not know"
Read the incident in this link.

Contribute to the surviving victims of Bhopal by buying my book "Practical Process Safety Management"

Overheated air compressor causes fatality

 Read about an incident involving an overheated air compressor that caused a fatality in this link

 Contribute to the surviving victims of Bhopal by buying my book "Practical Process Safety Management"