Oil and Gas Industry Safety & Health - Articles - Page 15

Fatal pipeline explosion was preventable, says NTSB

December 16, 2019

Inadequate planning and communication were what led to the 2016 gas pipeline explosion and fire in Alabama that killed two workers and injured four others, according to an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The October 31 blast near Helena occurred when a contractor who was excavating damaged the Colonial Pipeline Company’s (Colonial) 36-inch diameter refined liquid petroleum transmission pipeline

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.

Oil industry group updates EHS standard for offshore ops

December 10, 2019

The American Petroleum Institute (API) has published a significantly updated version of a safety standard that provides guidance for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving a safety and environmental management system (SEMS) for offshore operations.

EPA: No new rules on petroleum, coal products mfg industry

December 5, 2019

The EPA said yesterday that it will not impose new financial responsibility requirements for the petroleum and coal products manufacturing industry (the industrial sector that transforms crude petroleum and coal into usable products) “because the financial risk to the federal government from those facilities is already addressed by various existing federal and state technical and financial requirements and modern material management practices.”

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.

Retiring machinists will impact plant safety

Bye-bye boomers

Matt Brenner

December 4, 2019

Within the next decade approximately 2.7 million “Baby Boomers” (b. 1946-1964) will retire, ensuring tens of thousands of skilled, well-paid positions will become available, all without a ready supply of American workers to fill them. Statistics paint an especially gloomy picture for the manufacturing sector, and a widening of the skills gap as young employees replace old.

Texas refinery explosions and fire cause injuries, evacuation

November 27, 2019

Three workers were injured this morning – one seriously – when a southeast Texas refinery was rocked by a chemical explosion followed by a fire. Residents within a half mile of the plant in Port Neches, about 90 miles east of Houston, were ordered to evacuate during the emergency.

Wearing portable gas detectors: Place detectors in the breathing zone

Rick Pedley

November 2, 2019

Breathing hazards such as hazardous gasses can be a danger to all types of workers, including those in the oil and gas, water treatment plants, metals refining and processing, and chemical plants. To keep safe working in these environments, workers need to carry a range of personal protective equipment.

Better illumination benefits safety; reduces environmental footprints

Limits of legacy lighting

Ellen Helm

November 1, 2019

Over the past decade, Light Emitted Diode (LED) lighting has proven to be a simple, cost-saving method for businesses to reduce their long-term impact on the environment and promote a healthier, safer work environment for employees.

Oil industry association updates guidance on GHS

November 1, 2019

Given the expanding international market in chemical substances and mixtures, a global system of classification and labeling was proposed at the 1992 Earth Summit by the International Labour Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and many other governments and stakeholders. In response, the United Nations developed the ‘Globally Harmonised System’ (GHS) which is a single worldwide system for classifying and communicating the hazardous properties of industrial and consumer substances and mixtures.