December 22, 2017
Are your back up systems what they are - Back up??
The recent fire in the Worlds busiest airport at Atlanta in USA highlights the need for properly designed back up systems. Power supply in Atlanta
airport was out for about 11 hours on Sunday due to a fire. The fire occurred in a tunnel that housed both
the main power lines and a backup supply, news reports suggest.
The fire was
traced to a failed switchgear, and was
adjacent to the back up power supply cables whcih too got burnt!Have you made sure that your back up systems are just that - back up and always available when needed? It may be too late to find out during an actual emergency.December 18, 2017
How static electricity can cause an explosion
See the video of a static charge causing an explosion in a cosmetic plant in this link.
December 15, 2017
December 12, 2017
December 8, 2017
December 4, 2017
Big data and process safety
There is a lot of action going on in the big data
field and how it will help us improve process safety. I have operated
chemical plants in the 80's and 90's and what I have observed is that
the data flow to an operator in a control room has dramatically
increased today, when compared to the past. Consequently he/she is now
prone to making more errors. Adopting Dr Trevor Kletz' approach of
inherent safety, could we pose a question.......is all the data really
necessary? While technology is definitely an enabler, one has to draw a
line between good data (useful data) and bad data (unwanted data that
distracts operator attention).......what I mean is that while many of
the modern control systems do have very useful features, we must filter
out the data we do NOT want, at the design stage of the control system
itself. As an example, if we restrict the number of alarms in the design
stage itself, why do we need alarm management software to be
retrofitted? Your thoughts, please.....
December 3, 2017
Black swans and good safety management systems
Reuters has reported an accident at an Exxon Mobil refinery project site on Friday, when a young female worker was killed when, reportedly, a pipe fell on her. Read about the incident in this link
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-refinery-operations-exxon-mobil-beaum/contract-worker-dies-in-accident-at-exxons-beaumont-refinery-idUSKBN1DV62W
Exxon Mobil have very good safety management systems, yet this incident has taken place. I see such black swan events in other well and safely managed companies too. Why do you think such black swan events occur?
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-refinery-operations-exxon-mobil-beaum/contract-worker-dies-in-accident-at-exxons-beaumont-refinery-idUSKBN1DV62W
Exxon Mobil have very good safety management systems, yet this incident has taken place. I see such black swan events in other well and safely managed companies too. Why do you think such black swan events occur?
Bhopal - Lessons only partly learnt
Today is the 33rd anniversary of Bhopal. But we, In India have only partly learnt the lessons from Bhopal.
December 1, 2017
Hot in Cold equals Explosion!
A hot aqueous process stream was wrongly directed to a tank full of cold hydrocarbon. The heat input from the aqueous stream caused rapid vaporisation of the hydrocarbon which then over-pressured the tank and caused a failure of the roof seam.
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