Common sense is not so common

 I was chatting with a Plant Manager recently when he lamented the fact that his operators believed the instrumentation rather than common sense. A pump was not delivering the required flow, even though the current drawn by the motor was normal. The operators checked the position of the recirculation control valve in the DCS and it indicated close. They then requested maintenance to replace the pump twice but the problem remained. Finally they found out that the recirculation valve was open in the field though it was indicating close in the DCS.
I see similar things happen in complicated PSM systems where poeple loose sight of what is the objective of PSM. PSM is common sense applied to keep the hazardous chemicals where they belong.


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Deadly accident sounds alarm for safety in Chinese labs | Chemistry World

Deadly accident sounds alarm for safety in Chinese labs | Chemistry World

Good article on why lab safety needs to be focussed on .



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One dead, three injured in plant accident

One dead, three injured in plant accident: One person is confirmed dead and three others injured following an incident Saturday afternoon involving a chemical explosion at a Pasadena chemical plant.


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Explosion report issued - Vernon Morning Star

Explosion report issued - Vernon Morning Star

The above news item about an incident investigation is worth reading as an explosion occurred in a dryer furnace because the combustion air fan was shut off before the furnace was cooled adequately. When the furnace was opened, an explosion occurred. This incidents highlights the importance of following SOP's

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U.S. Chemical Safety Board Finds Multiple Safety Deficiencies Led to February 2015 Explosion and Serious Near Miss at the Exxon Mobil Refinery in Torrance, California - General News - News | the U.S. Chemical Safety Board

Initial findings seem familiar!

U.S. Chemical Safety Board Finds Multiple Safety Deficiencies Led to February 2015 Explosion and Serious Near Miss at the Exxon Mobil Refinery in Torrance, California - General News - News | the U.S. Chemical Safety Board



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Maintaining old assets

An interesting article has been published in Offshore Engineer, titled "Tackling the backlog".
It talks about how many assets in the UK oil exploration industry is more than 25 years old and  that critical maintenance backlogs have been going up since 2010. It mentions "Safety critical maintenance backlog has increased from just above 700 man hours per installation to more than 4000, as at Q3-4 2014, with the increase having started from 2010, and the greatest rises in 2013 and 2014. Meanwhile, unplanned losses account for the greatest increase in the lost production efficiency, with planned shutdown time also increasing” . The article is worth a read. Please google "Offshore Engineer Tackling the backlog"

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Skyscraper blaze in Persian Gulf raises questions about safety | The Japan Times

Skyscraper blaze in Persian Gulf raises questions about safety | The Japan Times



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Explosion in plant injures 4

 http://www.breakingnews.com/t/IKq

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Human error by a Pilot

On 08.08.2014, an Indian commercial passenger jet was involved in loss of altitude incident during cruise over Turkish Airspace. The incident occurred after the aircraft had flown for 04 hours 43 minutes from Mumbai. The aircraft was flying on westerly track which was between 230 and 300 degrees and was flying on auto pilot at a height of 32000 feet. The Pilot in command was undergoing controlled rest as per statutory requirements and the controls were with the First Officer.

The First Officer, while updating the direction heading 292 degree, instead turned the altitude knob to 292 FL (29000 feet) and pressed thereby causing the aircraft to descend as the auto pilot obeyed the order to descend to 29000 feet. The Turkish Air Traffic Controller noticed the aircraft descent and called through radio about the unauthorized descent. Subsequently, the First Officer pressed ALT HOLD and climbed back to FL320 (32000 feet). The First Officer then woke up the Captain who was undergoing controlled rest and informed him of the incident. (Source: DGCA incident report).

In our industry, there have been numerous incidents where wrong setpoints or outputs have been entered by the DCS operator, leading to plant upsets. Do you consider this in HAZOP's?

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One man dies in water-treatment plant explosion - MRT.com: Top Stories

One man dies in water-treatment plant explosion - MRT.com: Top Stories



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OSHA Announces Top 10 Safety Violations for 2015

OSHA Announces Top 10 Safety Violations for 2015



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WISH ALL MY READERS AND THEIR FAMILIES A VERY HAPPY, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS 2016!

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