Industrial Fire Prevention

Should Leaders Be Fired For Poor Safety Records? Should Leaders Be Fired For Poor Safety Records? Submitted by Traci Purdum on Thu, 03/30/2017 - 10:47  My apologies for procrastinating. I’m just now circling back to a webinar that I moderated in February. Don’t judge me – I know I need to work on getting to these things sooner. It was the first webinar in our process-safety series and it covered leadership skills and  responsibilities as they apply to creating safety as a core value at all levels of leadership. Our speaker, Dr. Sam Mannan, Regents Professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University and Director of the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center, helped us develop the series concept. According to Mannan, “Impact of leadership cannot be overemphasized. In my opinion, unless these leaders are engaged and fully committed, it's very difficult to accomplish best in class performance and safety culture.” Among th...

From the Harrington Group Back to the Basics: What is Fire? As fire protection engineers we spend a lot of time talking about how to prevent fires and mitigate their damage. Technology has come a long way over the years and the profession is constantly evolving, but let’s take a moment to go back to the basics. Let’s start at the very beginning: what is fire ? It’s a rapid chemical reaction that requires fuel, heat, oxygen and an uninhibited chemical reaction—four components that make up what is known as the fire tetrahedron. A fire can be considered friendly (think cozy fireplaces, campfires, candles, cigarette lighters, gas stoves, etc.) or hostile (any unwanted fire that’s out of control and has limitless fuel and oxygen to feed on). And beyond that, a fire can be classified into one of five categories, according to the type of fuel that’s consumed and certain hazard characteristics. The three most common types of fire are as follows: Class A: Fires that burn ordinary comb...

How Does it Relate to Process Safety Management (PSM)? Posted by AnnMarie Fauske on Thu, Mar 23, 2017 @ 12 37 PM A Risk Based Inspection (RBI) is basically a risk analysis of operational procedures.  It assesses the safety risks and plant integrity that exist and further prepares it for possible inspections.  The end result is a document that outlines, measures and defines organizational procedures based on standards, codes and best practices.  Per Wikipedia, "RBI is most often used in engineering industries and is predominant in the oil and gas industry. Assessed risk levels are used to develop a prioritised inspection plan. It is related to (or sometimes a part of) Risk Based Asset Management (RBAM), Risk Based Integrity Management (RBIM) and Risk Based Management (RBM). Generally, RBI is part of Risk and Reliability Management (RRM)." Generally, RBI's are used when a company wants to change the required fregency of inspection for pressure-rate vesels. ...

From Ryan Fogelman | Pulse | LinkedIn Technology Is The Key In Mitigating The Inherent Threat Of Fire In Waste & Recycling Operations Published on March 5, 2017 Ryan Fogelman CDG / Fire Rover / Preval A fire occurred at your operation. If it is a fire incident that is caught and contained, we all breath a collective sigh of relief. "Pats on the back" are passed out for having the safety and procedural processes in place to successfully prevent a fire event from becoming a major incident. In simple terms, the safety and operations teams did their job, and our processes and training worked. Alternatively, a fire occurred at your operation. The fire got out of control and caused significant damage. The "Active" protection layer, which in Waste & Recycling operations typically consists of water sprinklers that are automatically set off when radiant heat passes 180 degrees -- more often than not -- contain the fire, protecting the lives of your...

From MyDustExplosionResearch.com 12 Journal Articles Investigating Explosion of Hybrid Mixtures By Chris Cloney Mar 01, 2017 Literature Survey Hybrid Mixture Explosion Hybrid mixtures contain both a combustible dust and flammable gas. Explosion of hybrid mixtures represent an enhanced industry hazard as both the severity and likelihood can increase from the presence of the second fuel. This post briefly summarizes 12 journal articles in this research area. Relevant industries, main findings, and points of disagreement are discussed. The final two sections give links to three minute summaries of each article and the full reference information. The main focus of this post is hybrid explosion parameters determined in closed chambers at laboratory scale. For the current purposes, explosion severity is indicated by maximum rate of pressure rise and likelihood is indicated by explosibility limits. It is impor...