Crossing Streams: Safety During Simultaneous Operations

“Don’t cross the streams.” -Egon from Ghostbusters It doesn’t take much for two tasks to interfere with one another out in general industry. Work environments can be quite hectic as the end of a fiscal year approaches, where multiple goals and tasks are being wrapped up. Plant life is not much different, except some of [...]

By |2023-11-02T09:34:25-05:00November 2nd, 2023|Chemicals, Procedures, Process Safety, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Crossing Streams: Safety During Simultaneous Operations

Cameras: Like A Watched Pot

“Notice. All Activities Monitored By Video Camera.”  — Various Department Store Surveillance Signs The adage that a watched pot never boils is false. The boil will occur, regardless of whether someone is observing it. Watching the pot appears to increase the time it takes to boil, especially if that is the only task that the [...]

By |2023-10-12T09:47:05-05:00October 12th, 2023|Process Safety, Process Safety Management, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Cameras: Like A Watched Pot

Confined Spaces: What Are They?

“Space is something you have to define. Otherwise, it is like anxiety, which is too vague. A fear is something specific. I like claustrophobic spaces, because at least then you know your limits.”  — Louise Bourgeois A group recently met to discuss locking out a process vessel for entry. They identified the agitator, all of [...]

By |2023-09-28T14:07:25-05:00September 28th, 2023|Procedures, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Confined Spaces: What Are They?

Earthquakes: How Will You Respond?

“Earthquakes don’t kill people. Buildings kill people.”  — Wendy Bohon, geologist How many times have you been in a hazard review discussing the potential for a particularly severe event when someone asserts, “Well, I’ve never seen anything like that happen.” As though their proclamation of “never” settles the question. I sometimes ask them how long [...]

By |2023-09-21T15:27:53-05:00September 21st, 2023|Current Events, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Earthquakes: How Will You Respond?

Double, Double, Toil and Trouble: Hatch Additions

“Ideas nearly always seem brilliant when they’re hatched, so we never act on a new idea for at least twenty-four hours.”  — Steven D. Levitt Batch processes often rely on additions through open hatches for ingredients that don’t lend themselves to being pumped in through a pipe. These include liquid ingredients used in small quantities [...]

By |2023-08-17T15:01:00-05:00August 17th, 2023|Chemicals, Process Safety, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Double, Double, Toil and Trouble: Hatch Additions

A Flurry of Activity: Recent CSB Final Reports

“Once you start something, finish it. Don’t accumulate a backlog of unfinished projects.”  — Ed Bliss If you are on the Chemical Safety Board’s distribution list, you may have noticed a lot of trade releases from the CSB in your in-box during the last few weeks. They’ve been busy. A recent press release proudly announced [...]

By |2023-08-11T12:40:08-05:00August 11th, 2023|Current Events, Process Safety, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on A Flurry of Activity: Recent CSB Final Reports

Duct Tape and Baling Wire: Safely Using Temporary Fixes

“Sometimes using duct tape and baling wire is a terrible and/or dangerous choice.”  — Kay Rhodes On Sunday, June 11, 2023, a burning truckload of gasoline under an I-95 overpass in Philadelphia caused the bridge to collapse. At the time, officials estimated that it would take months to repair the bridge. Twelve days later, on [...]

By |2023-08-11T18:35:34-05:00July 13th, 2023|Current Events, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Duct Tape and Baling Wire: Safely Using Temporary Fixes

Lab Safety: A Tax on Scientific Productivity?

“Externalized costs are negative impacts associated with economic transactions which concern people outside of those transactions, meaning that neither the buyer nor the seller bears the brunt of the costs.”  — Mary McMahon On December 29, 2008, a fire in a UCLA organic chemistry lab killed research assistant Sheharbano Sangji. In response, the University of [...]

By |2023-08-11T18:41:53-05:00July 6th, 2023|Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Lab Safety: A Tax on Scientific Productivity?

Opioid Crisis in the Process Industries: Narcan as First Aid

“Fentanyl is everywhere. From large metropolitan areas to rural America, no community is safe from this poison.”  — Anne Milgram I believe that we cannot reduce the number and rate of work-related fatalities if we do not understand what causes them. So, every December I study the annual statistics for work-related fatalities when the Bureau [...]

By |2023-08-14T16:14:40-05:00June 22nd, 2023|Current Events, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Opioid Crisis in the Process Industries: Narcan as First Aid

Cracking the Code: AI’s Breakthrough in Process Safety

“Some people call this artificial intelligence, but the reality is this technology will enhance us. So instead of artificial intelligence, I think we’ll augment our intelligence.” —Ginni Rometty Artificial Intelligence is having a moment in the public sphere. OpenAI’s ChatGPT text predictor has led to many competitors and skews that other companies can use to [...]

By |2023-08-11T17:22:50-05:00May 25th, 2023|Process Safety, Workplace Safety|Comments Off on Cracking the Code: AI’s Breakthrough in Process Safety
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