Category: Uncategorized
Hot work without a gas test-when will people ever learn?
Another accident has been reported due to negligence and lack of an understanding of hazardous materials and their properties. Fortunately there have been no fatalities, only two injuries, but they are severe and the victims have been hospitalized, reports the Merced Sun Star, in a news item dated April, 02, 2009.
The two injured men were workers in a produce plant (A.V.Thomas Produce, 3900 Sultana Drive, Atwater, Merced County, CA ), who were using an Acetylene blowtorch on a fuel tank. They were trying to loosen a compression bolt on the fuel tank, when it exploded. Common safety procedures apparently were not followed. The tank exploded, causing second- and third-degree burns to 30 and 50 percent of the men’s bodies, according to Cal Fire Battalion Chief Kevin Lawson. Read the full story here.
It is very clear what caused the explosion. It is not the usage of an acetylene torch or the presence of volatile flammable materials near a naked flame, it was IGNORANCE that caused the explosion. A basic safety training in the hazards of volatile organic compounds like gasoline or diesel would have helped. There was no gas test to detect %LEL near the fuel tank, nor any “hot work” permit system.
When will we ever learn?
Portable Gas Monitors- new ways to use them
All of us a ware of portable gas monitors, those instruments with the built in sensors that give out an alarm in case they detect the presence of a gas (or fail to detect a sufficient level of a gas like Oxygen). We all know how to use them. We use portable LEL meters, before starting any welding or “hot work” in a hazardous area, we use portable Oxygen gas detectors before attempting to enter a confined space area for working and so on. But can we use these meters for other purposes? Sure, we can. If you notice if you carry a perfectly calibrated Oxygen monitor to a remote unpolluted area, what reading do you expect. 20.8 % Oxygen or even slightly better (I am not considering high mountainous regions that are low in Oxygen content). What reading do you get in your plant near all your reactors and distillation towers and tanks? Maybe 20.6 % or even lesser. What does that say about your workplace? Do a little “workplace monitoring” with these things, you’ll be surprised.
Now for some fun with the LEL meters. Take one of these to all the designated “hazardous” areas (all the Division 1, Zone 1, areas) and the designated “safe” areas and monitor the LEL levels. If your area classification is still current, you should not get any surprises. If not, well, you need to really rethink.
Caveat: A hazardous area (Even a Zone 0 or Zone 1) does not mean that you will have explosive gases and vapors all the time. Of course not! Otherwise your plant is really something that can get shut down by the authorities. But if you take these readings for a sufficient number of times, you can find out if for example the boundaries of your hazardous areas are OK or should they be extended? Are your safe areas immune to those vapors that may creep in when say some manholes on nearby reactors are opened? Are your double mechanical seals on your pumps really working properly? And so on. One round in your plant with these little meters will really give you a picture of how things really are…good, bad or ugly.
Use Gas Detectors to improve safety-lessons from an industrial accident
This post shows how easy it can be, to build-in safety into your plant, by using the right kind of gas detector. Continuing our “Case study” series, we show below how a simple gas detector, had it been installed, could have easily prevented a major industrial catastrophe.
The video below show the US Chemical Safety Board accident investigation of an explosion, that rocked the industrial facility of Sterigenics International, Ontario, California. Apparently, among many things that went wrong, one glaring fact that stands out was the non use of gas monitors in the facility. Even a simple gas detector based on catalytic combustion principles, that could have measured hazardous levels of explosive gas, could have prevented the incident.
Gas monitors and gas detectors can be used very effectively in preventing such kinds of accidents, to a large extent. Ignorance about usage can no longer be a reason, since there is an excellent training course on gas detectors now available. This downloadable course on gas monitors, will enable you to understand all about safety concepts like TWA & TLV, different methods of gas detection, how gas monitors work, how to select and install a gas monitor that works and how to calibrate and maintain them so that they continue to maintain your plant in a safe state.
Well, enough on that, I am sure you will check it out. Meanwhile, here’s the video. Very graphic but also very illuminating. View it and draw your own conclusions. As always, comments are welcome!
