Facility Safety - Articles - Page 55

CSB proposes rule on accidental release reporting

December 12, 2019

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board's (CSB) is inviting comment on its just-issued Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding accidental release reporting. The proposed rule describes when an owner or operator is required to file a report of an accidental release and the required content of such a report and is intended to ensure that the CSB receives rapid, accurate reports of any accidental release that meets established statutory criteria.

Electrical arc turns night sky blue in NYC

"There's no truth to the alien invasion or alien UFO landing"

December 11, 2019

Con Edison says an electrical fault at a substation in Astoria, Queens caused an electrical arc lighting up the sky over New York City while causing some flight delays and scattered power outages. It happened shortly after 9 p.m. at the Astoria East and North Queens Con Edison plant on 20th Avenue and 32nd Street in Astoria.

Dollar Tree Stores continues to endanger employees

December 11, 2019

The OSHA citations Dollar Tree Stores just received for exposing employees at its stores in Alabama and Connecticut to workplace hazards should feel familiar to the national retailer. The company “has an extensive history of similar violations and continues to show a disregard for safety measures designed to keep employees safe on the job,” said OSHA Mobile Area Director Jose Gonzalez.

Five injured in arc flash at Colorado hydroelectric station

December 11, 2019

An arc flash at Xcel Energy's Cabin Creek Hydroelectric Generating Station in Colorado left five employees with non-life-threatening injuries, according to a report from the Clear Creek Courant, Idaho Springs, Colo. At 8:10 a.m. authorities responded to an emergency at the plant, which is above Georgetown along Guanella Pass Road.

A systematic approach to reducing weld fumes

December 11, 2019

“Welding fumes are a complex mixture of fine condensed metallic particulate and other solid particles. While welding fume is not a gas, some gases such as ozone, NOx and carbon monoxide are also generated during the welding process,” says Keith Daley, environmental systems manager at The Lincoln Electric Company of Canada.

Court rules Exxon must turn over refinery blast info to CSB

Investigation stalled due to litigation

December 11, 2019

In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that Exxon Mobil Oil Corp. must produce information to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) related to a tank filled with hydrofluoric acid at the site of a 2015 oil refinery explosion in Torrance, California. The decision reverses a lower Court ruling that the information was not sufficiently relevant to the CSB’s investigation.

Supabsorb Tech, the new line of super absorbent industrial floor mats, launched

December 10, 2019

We are excited to announce its expansion with the launch of its new line of SupAbsorb Tech rolls and spill mats. These affordable, durable, American-made oil-absorbing mats reduce business’ carbon footprint by utilizing locally sourced, quality recycled materials. Originally developed for the oil industry to help with oil spills, these rolls and mats soak up large volumes of a variety of fluids efficiently, making workplaces safer and easier to maintain.

Steel worker injured at Indiana plant

December 9, 2019

A steelworker in Gary, Indiana is recovering from injuries sustained last week in a workplace incident at Gary Works, a sprawling steel mill along Lake Michigan. News sources say the man, a maintenance technician, was working on a blast furnace when the incident occurred, leaving him with multiple serious injuries

NTSB: Worker error behind school building blowing up

Lawsuits are pending

December 4, 2019

It was a nightmare scenario by any reckoning: workers installing piping at a school accidentally set off a release of gas and ran to warn everyone to evacuate. Some people made it out of the building before a thunderous explosion destroyed it. Others didn’t. That’s what occurred on the morning of August 2, 2017, at Minnehaha Academy, a private school in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The blast killed two employees, custodian John Carlson and receptionist Ruth Berg, and seriously injured nine others.

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Accelerate ergonomics: Systematically link to Lean and Six Sigma

Mike Wynn

December 4, 2019

Changes to the workplace represent both risks and opportunities for ergonomics. The risk of change is that without considering ergonomics, new challenges can be introduced. For example, a company became aware that product finish problems (scratches) were sometimes occurring but the source was unknown, so a Six Sigma green belt project was initiated.