Electrostatic heater explosion - safety alert

https://www.bsee.gov/sites/bsee.gov/files/wd-105-e-safetybulletin-clean-copy-november-2016-electrostatic-heater11-10-2016-final-draft.pdf

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The Development of Inherently Safe Static Protective FIBCs | Powder/Bulk Solids

The Development of Inherently Safe Static Protective FIBCs | Powder/Bulk Solids

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Hot work accident kills 3

A hot work accident in a detergent manufacturing plant in North India has reportedly killed tbree persons. It appears that the workers were trying to remove some bolts that were corroded when the explosion occured.
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Accident in plant kills 1

Thanks to Shri M.K.Rao executive director India Glycols Limited  for sharing this link
http://www.wltx.com/news/local/explosion-at-calhoun-county-plant-injuries-reported/364147611
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Vessel overpressurisation incident

Vessel overpressurisation incident

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The importance of SOP's for start up after an emergency shutdown

After an investigation of a fatal refinery furnace explosion, OSHA has concluded that catastrophic incident all started with a power outage. The report mentions an emergency shutdown that apparently took place in the furnace unit where the victim was working just before the explosion. The emergency shutdown was needed after a power outage occured, and a furnace exploded when workers were lighting up burners to bring the plant back online.
OSHA claims the company failed to provide clear instructions to operators for proper startup and use procedures after an emergency shutdown. The citation notification issued by OSHA said the same startup procedures were used for normal startup and startup after an emergency shutdown.
OSHA also claims proper furnace purging procedures were not performed on the furnace that eventually exploded and killed the victim.


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Another Anniversary of Bhopal but have we learnt the lessons?

In my view, the answer to the questions posed in the title of this blogspot is sadly "NO". We are making the same mistakes as Bhopal even today, as shown by the root causes of incidents that occur in current times. Please spend this week in your organisation as "Process Safety Management Week - Lessons from Bhopal" and educate your young workforce.
See all my earlier postings on Bhopal in this link.

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Lessons Learned from a Hydrogen Explosion

Lessons Learned from a Hydrogen Explosion: On January 8, 2007, a hydrogen explosion at the Muskingum River Power Plant’s 585-MW coal-fired supercritical Unit 5 caused one fatality, injuries to 10 other people, and significant damage to several buildings. The explosion occurred during a routine delivery of hydrogen when a hydrogen relief device failed, which allowed the contents of the hydrogen tank to escape and be ignited by an unknown source. This article covers the findings of the incident investigation and the actions the plant has taken to prevent a reoccurrence.


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A fatal accident due to non barricading of manways

Plant personnel often take manholes for granted. In a vessel or equipment that has its manway opened. In this refinery accident a person was killed when he entered through a manway that was not barricaded. Read about the incident in this link.


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Four workers critically injured in fire at Louisiana refinery - World Socialist Web Site

Four workers critically injured in fire at Louisiana refinery - World Socialist Web Site

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Innovative pipe bursting technology for online replacement of underground water lines

Innovative pipe bursting technology!
http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/arlington-citizen-journal/article64268447.html

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Fire in Jamnagar refinery kills 2, injures 8

NDTv  reports that two people have died and eight others injured after a fire broke out at the refinery site of Reliance Industries in Gujarat's Jamnagar. It is reported that the  fire broke out in the fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU), which was under maintenance,

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CSB Investigators Deploying to Fire at ExxonMobil Refinery in Baton Rouge, LA

 CSB Investigators Deploying to Fire at ExxonMobil Refinery in Baton Rouge, LA

Washington DC, November 23, 2016 – A three person investigative team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is deploying to the scene of an incident that injured six workers – including four critically – on Tuesday, November 22 at the ExxonMobil Refinery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
According to initial inquiries, flammable vapors were released during unplanned maintenance around a pump. Although there was no explosion, the release ignited and caused a large fire.
“The CSB has investigated too many incidents at refineries across the country,” said Chairperson Vanessa Sutherland. “As an agency, we continue to be concerned about the safety of oil and gas workers and their surrounding communities. The management of risk is an important part of any high hazard operation.”
ExxonMobil’s Baton Rouge Refinery is one of the country’s 150 refineries covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Process Safety Management regulations. Despite some positive initial steps toward improvement in process safety management at the federal level, CSB investigations have emphasized the need for a more comprehensive process safety management system in the U.S. to protect worker safety, public health, and the environment.  In fact, the modernization of process safety management regulations is one of the CSB’s Drivers of Critical Chemical Safety Change, a list of key chemical safety advocacy initiatives.
The CSB is an independent federal agency whose mission is to drive chemical safety change through independent investigations to protect people and the environment.
The agency’s board members are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in regulations, industry standards, and safety management systems.
For more information, contact Hillary Cohen (traveling with the team) at 202.446.8094 or via email at public@csb.gov.

 

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Courtesy CSB website www.csb.gov

Safety Alert - Vacuum trucks

 Department of Labor Safety Alert - Vacuum trucks

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4 killed, 13 injured in phosgene gas leakage at GNFC plant in Dahej

4 killed, 13 injured in phosgene gas leakage at GNFC plant in Dahej: Mishap takes place late last night when mechanical failure in a chemical reactor at the company's Toluene Di-Isocyanate plant

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Caustic Vapors Ruined Biggest US Refinery | AIChE

Caustic Vapors Ruined Biggest US Refinery | AIChE

Even though this incident happended some time ago, it is worth a re read!!


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Operating experience with hypo system in lieu of chlorine

An inherently safer system of using hypo instead of chlorine dosing in cooling water systems is prevalent in many industries. A good presentation on the operating issues with such a system is in this link.

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Lessons to learn from water treatment plant accident

 Lessons to learn from water treatment plant accident

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Some more safety system myths

 Some more safety system myths

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Emergency evacuation - lessons to be learnt from the aviation industry

https://www.runwaygirlnetwork.com/2016/10/29/aa383-chicago-767-fire-highlights-evacuation-safety-issues/

 

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Initiative by India Glycols for filling CO2 fire extinguishers

There have been a few incidents where CO2 fire extinguishers have suddenly failed due to corrosion caused by moisture in CO2, leading to the formation of carbonic acid. See the earlier post at http://indiaprocesssafety.blogspot.in/2016/05/internal-corrosion-of-gas-cylinders-and.html

Thanks to Mr M.K.Rao, Executive Director of India Glycols for sharing this news:
India Glycols has started the service of filling CO2 fire extinguishers ensuring quality of the filled cylinders to prevent mositure entry. If you are interested, you may contact their marketing department:
rk.gupta@indiaglycols.com
sandeep.sharma@indiaglycols.com


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Worker-suffers-fatal-burns-when-ethanol-ignites

 http://www.workerscompensation.com/compnewsnetwork/news/24898-sd-worker-suffers-fatal-burns-when-ethanol-ignites-during-expansion-project.html

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Human error likely caused the deadly explosion

http://www.manufacturing.net/news/2016/10/basf-says-deadly-explosion-german-plant-likely-caused-error
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4 killed due to toxic gas leak in Gujarat

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/gnfc-tdi-gas-plant-leak-four-killed-3735121/

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Fire at insecticide factory injures 8

News reports indicate at least eight persons have been injured in a fire at Hndustan Insecticides plant in Kerala. The fire is attributed to carbon disulphide.
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Corrosion Induced Explosion of a High-Pressure Fire-Extinguishing Gas Cylinder

Thanks to Mr Satya Subrahmanyam DGM, EHS, Coromandel International Limited, for sending a link to the article Corrosion Induced Explosion of a High-Pressure Fire-Extinguishing Gas Cylinder in the Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention -October 2014, Volume 14,Issue 5,pp 564–568 by Yong Jiang,Jian-ming Gong,Peng-jie Tang.
 The abstract of the article mentions "The failure of a high-pressure fire-extinguishing cylinder was investigated. Failure was induced by internal surface corrosion and stress corrosion cracking (SCC) due to condensation of carbonic acid. In internal surface, especially the area near the bottom of the exploded cylinder, severe corrosion was characterized by local pits. SCC initiated from these local corrosion pits was observed by metallurgical analysis. Microstructure of the failure cylinder near the internal surface consisted of multiple-banded structure and the banded structure could accelerate local corrosion initiation and propagation. The corrosion products built up on the fracture surface were primarily ferrous carbonate (FeCO₃). The determination of moisture in fire-extinguishing gas was also examined."
Be careful of your CO2 extinguishers. Traces of moisture which can get in during refilling can cause the formation of carbonic acid and cause corrosion.


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Inadvertent mixing incident causes chlorine cloud

More than 100 people were treated for respiratory problems after an inadvertent mixing of chemicals caused a large gas cloud at a plant in Kansas, USA. The two chemicals involved in the spill were identified as sulfuric acid and sodium hypochlorite, which mixed to create a chlorine cloud.
Are you training personnel on the inadvertent effects of mixing of chemicals?

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