chemical process safety Articles
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A risk-based approach to process safety makes (dollars and) sense
Process safety practices and formal safety management systems have been in place in some companies for many years. Process safety management is widely credited for reductions in major accident risk and in improved chemical industry performance. Unfortunately, traditional process safety management programs are typically based on implementing a standard set of requirements that, in some situations, ...
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Are your MI and reliablility programs competing for resources?
A number of refineries and chemical processing facilities have not yet realized the potential synergy between regulatory-driven mechanical integrity (MI) programs and facility-wide reliability programs. The tendency at many facilities is to keep these two initiatives separate, which typically results in a competition for precious maintenance and inspection resources as well as management ...
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Facility siting changes for process plant buildings in the works
Facility siting identifies hazards that may affect process plant buildings, assesses the potential consequences and leads to the development of a means to manage the risks of these hazards. In short, it is a procedure to make sure process building siting (location, construction and function) is appropriate based on the known hazards (toxic, fire andexplosion) at the facility.Past incidents at ...
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Overview of risk based process safety
Process safety practices and formal safety management systems have been in place in some companies for many years. Process safety management (PSM) is widely credited reductions in major accident risk and in mproved chemical industry performance. Nevertheless, many organizations continue to be challenged by inadequate managementsystem performance, resource pressures and stagnant process safety ...
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The essentiality of process-safety management
Untitled Document Loss of Life in the workplace is a tragedy of enormous proportion. One of the tools the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) uses to eliminate workplace disasters is the Process Safety Management (PSM) standard issued in 1992. Questions have arisen about whether the standard is sufficient and whether it should be amended. The Chemical ...
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E&P facilities: Using risk-based process safety applications
Process safety and major accident prevention practices for offshore exploration and production (E&P) facilities vary somewhat around the globe. In the United Kingdom, the Safety Case is “king.” Elsewhere, quantitative risk analysis (QRA) is widely used during the design process to ensure that fire and explosion risk areas are identified and either inherently safer measures are integrated into the ...
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Equipment deficiencies: How well are they being managed? (Part 2 of 2)
As introduced in part one, a key element of a successful mechanical integrity (MI) program is the equipment deficiency process that ensures deficient equipment conditions are identified in a timely manner and appropriately managed until they are corrected. Part two discusses the common struggles related to managing deficiencies and how involving appropriate levels of management can provide ...
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Process safety culture: Why is it so important?
Since the introduction of the OSHA process safety management (PSM) standard (29 CFR 1910.119) in 1992, companies have committed considerable effort and expense to developing PSM programs. Unfortunately, serious incidents and audits all too frequently point to gaps in PSM implementation. In the new book, “Guidelines for Risk Based Process Safety,” the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) ...
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Process safety culture: Why is it so important?
Since the introduction of the OSHA process safety management (PSM) standard (29 CFR 1910.119) in 1992, companies have committed considerable effort and expense to developing PSM programs. Unfortunately, serious incidents and audits all too frequently point to gaps in PSM implementation. In the new book, “Guidelines for Risk Based Process Safety,” the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) ...
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The NEP may prove costly to process safety
Both the U.S. Chemical Safety Board BP investigation report and the Baker Panel report were critical of OSHA’s lack of enforcement in the refining sector. OSHA data indicates that U.S. refineries have experienced 36 fatal or catastrophic incidents since 1992, representing more incidents than have occurred in the next three closest chemical industrial groups combined. On March 22, Congress ...
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The Volatile Debate Over Regulation of Reactive Chemicals
Untitled Document The regulation of chemicals believed to be “reactive” has been hotly debated for many years. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) “(c)hemical reactivity presents serious, sometimes catastrophic hazards to workers when the hazard is not thoroughly understood and controlled.” The U.S. Chemical ...
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Staff spotlight: environmental professional leverages industry experience to benefit clients
Christine Kurtz, a Managing Consultant in Trinity’s Minneapolis office, provides clients in the Upper Midwest with the benefits of her 18 years of experience in both industry and consulting. Christine spent over 16 years in industry prior to joining Trinity. She started out in research and development, moved into process engineering, and then found her passion in environmental management ...
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Updating process safety culture: Lessons from BP Texas refinery incident
“That which is everybody’s business is nobody’s business” - Izaak Walton Chemical process plant safety and accident investigation has attained major strides in the past thirty years. Inquiry reports on catastrophic process plant accidents like Flixborough, Piper Alpha, Bhopal, Chernobyl revealed key areas where strengthening is needed to prevent major accidents in the industry . It is a ...
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Site Vulnerability Assessments for Facilities That Use, Store, or Transport Chemicals
In response to pressing issues facing the new Department of Homeland Security, over 15,000 chemical and industrial plants may have to evaluate their vulnerability to terrorist attack and improve countermeasures at their facilities. Federal lawmakers are considering two bills requiring facilities to submit site security plans: the Chemical Security Act (Senate Bill S. 157, reintroduced in January, ...
By AECOM
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Muse-Tech – EU-Project - Case Study
The concept of MUSE-Tech project is the integration of three High-End sensing technologies Photoacoustic Spectroscopy, Quasi Imaging UV-Vis Spectrometry and Distributed Temperature Sensing in a versatile Multi Sensor Device (MSD), for real-time monitoring (on-line or in-line) of multiple parameters associated with the quality and the chemical safety of raw and in-process ...
By Gasera Ltd
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Linking OII and RMP data: does everyday safety prevent catastrophic loss?
We link the risk management programme (RMP) database of accident histories collected by the US Environmental Protection Agency for the period 1996-2000 under section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act Amendments and OSHA reported occupational illnesses and injuries (OII) for the same period. We explore various statistical associations between OIIs and RMP-reported accidents. If we think of OIIs as ...
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Compliance Advisor: New bill targets chemicals
As an influx of Democrats is expected in the new Congress, it surprises no one that Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) recently introduced a bill that would amend the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) by adding a new Title V to reduce the exposure of children, workers, and consumers to “toxic chemical substances.” U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) introduced the same legislation, H.R. 6100, in the ...
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Chemical Engineering Magazine Article: Chemical Lifecycle Management
Chemicals in production and laboratory environments alike have three distinct lifecycle phases: the first is procurement and inventory storage; the second is use in a manufacturing process or research program; and the third is post-use, including onsite handling, removal and beneficial reuse, recycle or disposal. A number of considerations including regulations, safety, material utilization ...
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Proposed Risk Management Program Regulations on the Way
How Might Your Business be Impacted? Prompted by, among other incidents, a massive explosion at the West Fertilizer Plant located north of Waco, Texas on April 17, 2013, President Obama has issued Executive Order 13650, Improving Chemical Facility Safety and Security (EO 13650). The EO directs the government to conduct a number of tasks, including modernizing regulations and strengthening ...
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