Dear Austin: Is It Going to Get Better?

“The future depends on what you do today.”  — Mahatma Gandhi “How intensive is the view on safety in the engineering, manufacturing, and industrial world?” As this semester closes, one of my students asked me what I thought personally about safety. He graduates in a couple of weeks, and went on to ask, “What is [...]

By |2020-12-03T16:09:57-06:00December 3rd, 2020|Current Events, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Dear Austin: Is It Going to Get Better?

Covid Fatigue? Give it a Rest

“As the pandemic drags on, following COVID-19 prevention guidelines can feel like more and more of a challenge.”  — Jay Maddock, Professor of Public Health Tired of the pandemic? Tired of social distancing, of wearing a mask, of avoiding crowds? Who’s not? Get over it. The Covid-19 pandemic has come roaring back in the United [...]

By |2020-11-20T15:59:14-06:00November 20th, 2020|Current Events, Process Safety|1 Comment

Frozen Pipes? Cold is Not the Cause

“It’s not the fall that kills you; it’s the sudden stop at the end.”  — Douglas Adams It is October and cold weather is bearing down on us.  Some places have already experienced freezing temperatures, and for most of the rest of the northern hemisphere, it is coming soon. Which means that it is time [...]

By |2020-10-01T18:20:23-05:00October 1st, 2020|Current Events, PHA, Procedures, Process Safety|1 Comment

Millennial Engineers: Challenging Stereotypes and Realizing Value

“We are here to build the house.”  — Cheryl Strayed Millennials have garnered a bad reputation. So much so that the word “millennial”, itself, is often intended as an insult.  How one generation has become the target of so much criticism and negativity is a mystery.  Millennials are no different than every other generation – [...]

By |2020-09-03T14:50:45-05:00September 3rd, 2020|Chemicals, Current Events, Process Safety|Comments Off on Millennial Engineers: Challenging Stereotypes and Realizing Value

Black Sky: A Bad Week for Polyethylene

“It’s everything you do and nothing that you did.”  — Steve Cash Poly-America is having a bad week. Last Wednesday, August 19, at around 1 am, a massive fire started at the Poly-America plant in Grand Prairie, Texas, outside of Dallas.  Local news reports on that Wednesday stated that the black plume from the fire [...]

By |2020-08-27T18:13:19-05:00August 27th, 2020|Current Events, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Black Sky: A Bad Week for Polyethylene

Fahrenheit 451: Autoignition Temperatures

“‘Stuff your eyes with wonder,’ he said, ‘live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic that any dream made or paid for in factories. Ask no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal.”  — Ray Bradbury Ray Bradbury was born a century ago, on [...]

By |2020-08-20T17:15:46-05:00August 20th, 2020|Chemicals, Current Events|Comments Off on Fahrenheit 451: Autoignition Temperatures

Insanity: Another Ammonium Nitrate Explosion

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — First said by an anonymous member of Al-Anon in Knoxville, Tennessee I have a dream. In my dream, following a terrible chemical disaster that mimics other terrible chemical disasters, officials don’t wring their hands and talk about how their thoughts [...]

By |2020-08-13T19:40:57-05:00August 13th, 2020|Chemicals, Current Events|Comments Off on Insanity: Another Ammonium Nitrate Explosion

Workplace Safety: As Good As It Gets?

“What if this is as good as it gets?”  — Jack Nicholson as Melvin Udall in As Good As It Gets, directed by James L. Brooks The year 2009 was first time I ever studied a graph of work-related fatality rates in the U.S. The data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was available for [...]

By |2020-07-09T16:27:25-05:00July 9th, 2020|Current Events, Workplace Safety|2 Comments

In the Midst of a Pandemic: Fourth of July Safety

“Fourth of July is not cancelled this year…it will just look a little different.”  — Megan Willgoos I love fireworks displays. Especially those with big finales. As a safety professional, a homeowner, and a dog lover, though, I hate recreational fireworks. People suffer life-altering injuries, homes and other buildings are set afire, and man’s best [...]

By |2020-07-02T13:11:51-05:00July 2nd, 2020|Current Events|Comments Off on In the Midst of a Pandemic: Fourth of July Safety

Why We Wear Masks

“The amount of misinformation on the Internet – especially on Facebook and especially during times of crisis – is staggering.”  — Benjamin Franklin We’ve returned to work here, although anyone who wishes to continue to work from home may. People stay separated, maintaining social distancing. The chairs in the break room are up on the [...]

By |2020-06-18T21:05:43-05:00June 18th, 2020|Current Events, Workplace Safety|1 Comment
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