Hazards of hot work-CSB issues safety bulletin

By Sam | Mar 8, 2010

This blog has consistently pointed out that many people working in industry seem to be unaware about the dangers of doing any “hot” work in a plant without a “gas test”. Despite several disasters that have been directly caused due to following this simple rule, nobody seems to have learnt lessons. The US Chemical Safety Board now has come up with a safety bulletin, outlining the recent case of the fatal accident at the PCA corrugated mill in Wisconsin, that was apparently caused by not checking for explosive gases with a portable explosive gas monitor, before commencing welding operations. The tank was also not classified as a hazardous area, despite it being used to store explosive and flammable materials.

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The CSB has issued a safety bulletin that details the incident, as well as precautionary measures that should be taken to avoid such incidents from recurring. Here is a partial text of the press release given below.

Wausau, Wisconsin, March 4, 2010 – The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) today issued a safety bulletin warning of the hazards of conducting hot work in a variety of industries and identifying seven key lessons aimed at preventing worker deaths during hot work in and around storage tanks containing flammable materials.

Hot work is defined as any work activity that involves burning, welding, cutting, brazing, grinding, soldering, or similar spark-producing operations that can ignite a flammable atmosphere

The CSB began investigating hot work hazards following an explosion that occurred on July 29, 2008, at the Packaging Corporation of America (PCA) corrugated cardboard mill in Tomahawk, Wisconsin, which killed three maintenance workers and injured another. The CSB determined the explosion resulted from welding above an 80-foot-tall storage tank that contained highly flammable hydrogen gas – the product of bacterial decomposition of organic fiber waste inside the tank.

At the time of the accident, PCA did not recognize waste fiber tanks as potentially hazardous or require combustible gas monitoring prior to welding nearby. PCA, which fully cooperated with the CSB investigation, subsequently developed new company standards requiring gas monitoring before any hot work.

“Hot work around flammable gas or vapor is one of the most common causes of worker deaths that we see at the Chemical Safety Board,” said CSB Board Member William B. Wark. ”Tragically, most of these accidents are readily preventable with better hazard assessments, proper gas monitoring, and other straightforward safety measures.”

In the ten months following the explosion at Packaging Corporation, the CSB deployed investigators to five other sites where hot work ignited flammable gas or vapor, including an explosion at MAR Oil in La Rue, Ohio, that killed two contractors in October 2008; an explosion that killed one and injured another at EMC Used Oil in Miami, Florida, in December 2008; an explosion that killed a contract welder at ConAgra Foods in Boardman, Oregon, in February 2009; an explosion at A.V. Thomas Produce in Atwater, California, in March 2009 that severely burned two employees; and the explosion of a massive gasoline storage tank that killed three workers at a TEPPCO Partners fuel distribution facility in Garner, Arkansas, in May 2009.

The CSB also collected information from the Honolulu Fire Department about a fatal hot work explosion at a waste oil company in October 2008 and noted findings from previous major hot work explosions in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Florida, and Mississippi that were investigated by the CSB or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“Companies need to develop comprehensive systems for controlling the hazards of hot work where flammable vapor could be present,” said CSB Investigations Supervisor Don Holmstrom, who led the investigations. ”Regulators, companies, and workers should recognize that combustible gas monitoring will save lives. A common feature of virtually all these accidents is the failure to recognize all the locations where a flammable atmosphere could be present. The absence of flammables needs to be verified before and during any hot work.”

Combustible gas monitors are relatively inexpensive, handheld electronic instruments that measure the amount of flammable material in the atmosphere, expressed as a percentage of the lower explosive limit. Proper training and calibration are essential for using gas monitors effectively.

The safety bulletin, entitled “Seven Key Lessons to Prevent Worker Deaths During Hot Work In and Around Tanks,” notes that the CSB has identified over 60 fatalities since 1990 due to explosions and fires from hot work activities on tanks. Mr. Holmstrom said those accidents have continued to occur since May 2009, the date of the last explosion covered in the bulletin.

Industries where hot work explosions have occurred include food processing, pulp and paper manufacturing, oil production and recycling, waste treatment, fuel storage and distribution.

Explosion at Kleen plant in Middletown-several fatalities?

By Sam | Feb 8, 2010

Industrial Accidents | Comment

Sunday, Feb07,2010 -Middletown, CT

There was a big explosion and fire at the Kleen power plant in Middletown, Connecticut, that may have had several fatalities. More than 100 divisions of Police, Fire department and other Emergency services were responded to the accident. The injured were being shifted to hospitals and emergency care facilities by helicopters. A search for survivors in the blast rubble at the site is on.

Apparently the plant had not yet opened and was still in the construction phase. People several miles away heard the blast and shockwaves. The gas based power plant had several contractors working on it. An unconfirmed report claimed that a survivor said that he was thrown up 30 feet in the air due to the blast!

The blast was so powerful that it could be heard for several tens of miles in the area surrounding the plant. Residents of Clinton, Prospect, Madison, Deep River, Ivoryton and Durham could feel the impact.

Reporters are not being allowed entry near the site by emergency officials.

Though the cause has not yet identified, it appears to have happened during gas line purging. Ironically just two days ago the CSB has voted to change the codes that apply to this kind of operation, due to the findings in the Conagara Slim Jim blast.

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Silver Eagle refinery explosion surveillance video footage

By Rick | Nov 19, 2009

Industrial Accidents | Comment

The CSB (U.S. Chemical Safety Board) has released footage from a surveillance camera that has captured the explosion at the Silver Eagle refinery in Utah that happened recently. The video shows how big an explosion can happen in a manner of a fraction of a second. The fireball that is seen can be more than 100 feet across, but enough about me telling it, watch it yourself below. It is a reminder to all of us to never underestimate the hazards that are present in large scale hydrocarbon processing.

Cause of Caribbean Petroleum Tank Farm Fire was faulty level indications says CSB

By Sam | Nov 18, 2009

Industrial Accidents | Comment

Here’s an update on the the Caribbean Tank Farm Fire from the CSB (US Chemical Safety Board).

Bayamon, PR, November 17, 2009 – The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) today announced that it will be conducting a full investigation of the October 23, 2009 explosion and fire at Caribbean Petroleum Refining. CSB investigators continue to examine the events and circumstances surrounding the catastrophic tank explosion and fire.

At 12:23 a.m. on October 23, a large vapor cloud ignited at the Caribbean Petroleum facility near San Juan, Puerto Rico. The blast damaged homes and businesses over a mile from the facility. Investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board arrived in Puerto Rico that evening. Over the past few weeks the five-person investigation team has conducted numerous interviews, requested hundreds of pages of documents and catalogued key pieces of evidence.

CSB Board Member William Wright said, “The CSB will conduct a thorough and comprehensive investigation of this accident; our team will uncover exactly what events led to an explosion of this magnitude. Our goal is to determine not only what happened, but why it happened.”

At the time of the incident a tank was being filled with gasoline from a ship docked in San Juan harbor. Investigators have determined that a likely scenario leading to the release was an accidental overfilling of the tank. Gasoline spilled from the tank without detection; as the material spilled it vaporized and spread across the facility. CSB investigators estimate that the vapor cloud spread to a 2000 foot diameter until it reached an ignition source in the northwest section of the facility.

The CSB found that on the evening of the incident, the liquid level in the tank could not be determined because the facility’s computerized level monitoring system was not fully operational. In order to monitor the level in the tank, operators used a mechanical gauge on the tank’s exterior wall. Therefore as the gasoline , employees located in the facility’s control room were unaware of the emergency.

“The filling of a tank without a functioning monitoring system is the type of activity the CSB will be examining very closely,” said Investigator-in-Charge Jeffrey Wanko, P.E. CSP. “The CSB’s investigation will examine operations particular to Caribbean Petroleum, but will also look at the regulations and best practices surrounding the industry as a whole in an effort to improve safety practices at similar facilities.”

So once again the same old story about poor level monitoring and overfill protection systems continues….the last such level monitoring failure was at Buncefield in the UK, where a malfunctioning level indicator caused overfilling and a massive explosion and fire. (Read more about it on this bog by typing Buncefield in the Search box)

On a side note: To prevent accidents and such undesirable events, it is not only essential that your plant or facility have the necessary instruments and systems, but also your staff needs to have training in how to use them. An example would be the excellent training course on hazardous area instrumentation here and another one on gas monitors here.

Explosion and Fire at Silver Eagle Refinery-CSB deploys investigative team

By Rick | Nov 5, 2009

Industrial Accidents | Comment

Washington DC, November 4, 2009 - A six-member team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is deploying to the scene of today’s explosion and fire at the Silver Eagle Refinery in Woods Cross, Utah.

According to local officials, the explosion in the diesel hydrotreater unit caused damage to homes in the surrounding area and was felt several miles away from the facility.

The CSB is investigating a January 2009 flash fire at the same refinery that burned two refinery operators and two contractors. The investigation team will be led by CSB Investigations Supervisor Donald Holmstrom and will be arriving Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.

This seems to be an unfortunate season of accidents and undesirable events at petroleum facilities all over the world. Whether this is a coincidence, or a reflection of today’s cost cutting management practices, needs to be investigated more in depth.