NFPA’s new gas process safety standard goes above & beyond, says CSB
Dangerous “gas blow” procedure prohibited
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is commending the National Fire Protection Association(NFPA) for exceeding the Board’s recommended actions in its developing a new gas process safety standard. The CSB issued an urgent recommendation in June, 2010 following the February 7, 2010, deadly natural gas explosion at the Kleen Energy electric plant – then under construction in Middletown, Connecticut. The blast, which killed six workers and injured at least 50, resulted during an operation known as a “gas blow”—whereby large quantities of natural gas are forced through piping at high pressure to remove debris. The gas accumulated and was ignited by an undetermined source.
The CSB called on the NFPA - a voluntary consensus standards organization which develops codes and standards that can then be adopted into law by states and localities - to revise its National Fuel Gas Code (also known as NFPA 54) to prohibit this inherently unsafe pipe cleaning methodology. In response, the NFPA proposed and developed a comprehensive new gas process safety standard, NFPA 56, “Standard for Fire and Explosion Prevention During Cleaning and Purging of Flammable Gas Piping Systems” using an expedited standards development process.