A lack of well control practices and well barriers contributed to a fatal flash fire at a Burleson County, Texas oil and gas well in January 2020, according to a federal report. The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) also found that the incident at the Daniel H. Wendland 1-H well also occurred […]
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board says the Feb. 18, 2015, explosion at the ExxonMobil refinery in Torrance, CA, was caused by “multiple process safety management deficiencies.” The CSB also contends the situation easily could’ve been much worse.
A new investigation report recommends that refineries find safer alternatives to replace the hydrofluoric acid (HF) alkylation process that led to the 2019 Philadelphia Energy Solutions explosion and fire. The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) wants the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to require refineries to use safer alternatives to HF alkylation when […]
If your company uses hazardous chemicals for certain processes but doesn’t fall under OSHA’s process safety management (PSM) standard, it’s probably a good idea to just follow the standard anyway. Why go to the effort? Because adhering to the PSM standard may help you recognize hazards you didn’t know were there before they result in […]
A federal investigation into the fatal fire and explosion at the West Fertilizer plant in Texas points to shortcomings in existing regulations, standards and guidance. Does this case show there is a real need for more safety regulation?
Imagine this: A big order or a crisis requires lots of overtime for your employees. Where would you draw the line on OT because of worker fatigue?
Earlier this year, we asked if DuPont’s safety programs had suffered an embarrassing black eye. Following OSHA’s recent action of placing the company into its Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP), the question is no longer “if,” but “how big?”
If we asked you to name a well known corporation with an excellent safety reputation, DuPont is one name that might come to mind. But a new report on three gas leaks and a fatality at a DuPont plant calls the company’s safety culture into question.
OSHA has fined a Belvedere, IL, company $510,000 in connection with a December 2009 explosion that killed a bystander.
A report from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) says a large explosion at Carbide Industries (CI) in Louisville, KY, that killed two workers and injured two others resulted from a failure by the company to investigate similar but smaller explosions over many years.
A federal investigation found that the fatal 2020 explosion at the Optima Belle plant in Belle, West Virginia, was caused in part by poor communication on process safety between the plant and a company that contracted its services. An investigation by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) found that a lack of […]
A government agency says the February 2008 explosion and fire at the Imperial Sugar plant in Port Wentworth, GA, that killed 14 workers and injured 36 others, was caused by poor equipment design, maintenance and housekeeping.
Imagine being able to get an exemption from an OSHA regulation due to who buys your product. The fertilizer plant in Texas that recently exploded, killing 15 people, may have been doing just that.
OSHA’s Process Safety Management (PSM) standard applies to fireworks manufacturing but not to fireworks disposal. Had the standard applied to disposal, a required hazard analysis could have saved five workers who were killed in an explosion.
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Here’s a real-life story about the importance of alternate escape routes in case of fire or another emergency. It involves the recent explosion at the Slim Jim (ConAgra) plant in North Carolina.
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