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Showing posts from July, 2013

Combustible dust standard identified as ‘Most Wanted’

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CSB Business Meeting to Vote on Key Safety Recommendations and Initiate "Most Wanted" Program - Public Meeting - Events | the U.S. Chemical Safety Board Thursday, July 25, 2013 CSB Business Meeting to Vote on Key Safety Recommendations and Initiate "Most Wanted" Program All Day Event The U.S. Chemical Safety Board will meet publicly to consider the status designations of seven key safety recommendations issued to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA.) The Board will also consider selection of the agency's first "Most Wanted Safety Improvement." TIME AND DATE :  July 25, 2013, 9:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. EDT. PLACE :  Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center , Horizon Room, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., Washington, DC 20004. OVERVIEW OF ACTIVITIES: From 9:30 a.m. until 12:15 p.m., the Board will consider designating the following recommendations to the federal Occupa

Combustible Dust: From Sparks to Fires to Explosions

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Combustible Dust: From Sparks to Fires to Explosions - Identifying Precursors to Catastrophic Events  From OHS-- Occupational Health and Safety Since the 2009 introduction of OSHA’s proposed combustible dust rulemaking following the 2008 Imperial Sugar Refinery catastrophic dust explosion, a regulation has not been finalized. In the interim, Congress has acted with the February 2013 reintroduction of a proposed combustible dust bill, “Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires Act (H.R. 691),” which directs OSHA to immediately publish an interim combustible dust regulation. A problem arises in both the proposed OSHA combustible dust rulemaking process and reintroduced combustible dust bill in that neither acknowledges the multitude of “near miss” combustible dust related fires, precursors to catastrophic dust explosions and flash fires. In 2013 a preliminary analysis by the Combustible Dust Policy Institute (CDPI) of National Fire Incident Reporti

Combustible Dust: From Sparks to Fires to Explosions

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Combustible Dust: From Sparks to Fires to Explosions Identifying Precursors to Catastrophic Events Occupational Health & Safety webinar Since the 2009 introduction of OSHA’s proposed combustible dust rulemaking following the 2008 Imperial Sugar Refinery catastrophic dust explosion, a regulation has not been finalized. In the interim, Congress has acted with the February 2013 reintroduction of a proposed combustible dust bill, “Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires Act (H.R. 691),” which directs OSHA to immediately publish an interim combustible dust regulation. A problem arises in both the proposed OSHA combustible dust rulemaking process and reintroduced combustible dust bill in that neither acknowledges the multitude of “near miss” combustible dust related fires, precursors to catastrophic dust explosions and flash fires. In 2013 a preliminary analysis by the Combustible Dust Policy Institute (CDPI) of National Fire Incident Reporting Sy

Webinar: Combustible Dust: From Sparks to Fires to Explosions

Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires-ATEX: Webinar: Combustible Dust: From Sparks to Fires to Explosions Webinar: Combustible Dust: From Sparks to Fires to Explosions Free Webinar July 10, 2013 TIME : 2:00PM EDT - 1:00PM CDT - 11:00AM PDT  Since the 2009 introduction of OSHA’s proposed combustible dust rulemaking following the 2008 Imperial Sugar Refinery catastrophic dust explosion, a regulation has not been finalized. In the interim, Congress has acted with the February 2013 reintroduction of a proposed combustible dust bill, “ Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires Act (H.R. 691) ,” which directs OSHA to immediately publish an interim combustible dust regulation. A problem arises in both the proposed OSHA combustible dust rulemaking process and reintroduced combustible dust bill in that neither acknowledges the multitude of “near miss” combustible dust related fires, precursors to catastrophic dust explosions and flash fires. In 2013 a pr

The Pluses and Minuses of Safety

From ProAct Safety - The Pluses and Minuses of Safety "When you stop trying to avoid failure and start trying to achieve success, the whole mindset of your organization can change"  The Pluses and Minuses of Safety EHS Today - October 2012 By: Terry L. Mathis Printable Version   Do you think of safety as something that needs to be added to your organization or as something that is accomplished when you remove risks? Do you spend more of your time getting people to do things or to not do things? Is safety the absence of accidents, the control of risks, or it something else? The way you think about safety will impact the actions you take and your actions will determine your degree of success. The actions that tend to follow a positive approach to safety differ in some important ways from the actions that are typically used in a negative approach. The negative approach to safety is actually the most common. Safety is defined as not having an acc

Report: Plant Explosion Released Toxic Chemicals

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"The deadly June 13 explosion and fire at the Williams Olefins chemical plant in Geismar released more than 62,000 pounds of toxic chemicals during the accident that killed two workers and injured 114 others..." "We are working in a cooperative and transparent manner with OSHA and CSB through this process" Report: Plant Explosion Released Toxic Chemicals GEISMAR, La. (AP) — The deadly June 13 explosion and fire at the Williams Olefins chemical plant in Geismar released more than 62,000 pounds of toxic chemicals during the accident that killed two workers and injured 114 others, according to a report filed with state environmental regulators. State police man a roadblock as smoke burns off from a flare at a chemical plant fire about twenty miles southeast of Baton Rouge, in Geismar, La., Thursday, June 13, 2013. The plant makes highly flammable gases that are basic building blocks in the petrochemical industry. (AP Photo/Gerald Herber

Indiana Grain Elevator on Fire Day After Blast

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  A concrete grain silo in Union Mills, Ind. after an explosion reportedly destroyed the top of the structure on Monday, June 24, 2013. (AP Photo/La Porte County Herald Argus, Matt Fritz) Indiana Grain Elevator on Fire Day After Blast UNION MILLS, Ind. (AP) — A fire broke out and thick black smoke billowed from a northwestern Indiana grain elevator a day after an explosion at the plant killed a worker. Facility owner Co-Alliance LLP says crews dismantling grain bins Tuesday at the Union Mills Co-op in Union Mills likely exposed smoldering grain to the wind. No injuries were reported. Grain dust is the suspected cause of Monday's blast that killed 67-year-old worker James Swank at the facility about 30 miles southwest of South Bend. LaPorte County sheriff's Sgt. Brian Piergalski tells WNDU-TV that authorities fearing new explosions evacuated some nearby homes. Co-Alliance safety manager Shawn Lambert tells WSBT-TV the fire burned a rubber belt on a conveyo