Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2001, David M. Garcia, Editor

Welcome to AcuSafe News -- The electronic newsletter devoted to serving industry, government, and interested members of the public by providing  process safety practices, incident news, lessons learned, and regulatory developments. We hope you had a safe and happy holiday season.

AcuSafe News is an extension of the AcuSafe website (http://www.acusafe.com/), the Internet resource for safety and risk management information, products, training, and professional exchange. We hope you visit the website and find AcuSafe News and the AcuSafe site to be valuable tools. AcuSafe.com and AcuSafe News is presented to you by AcuTech Consulting, a wholly owned subsidiary of  Geosphere Systems.  

 

In This Issue


  OSHA News:  OSHA Celebrates 30 Year Anniversary 
  CSB News:  CSB Withdraws "600K" Study
  DOT News:  New Proposed Rule for Pipeline Safety
  Industry Focus: Revisions to NFPA Standard to Incorporate EPA RMP Requirements
  Resources:  
           1.  EPA Compliance Assistance Clearinghouse
           2.  API Safety Conference Papers Available
           3.  TANKS Emission Estimation Software Available 

  Incident News:  
           1.  Monthly Summary of Incidents, November 16, 2000 - January 10, 2001 - Don't Miss this double dose of  News!
           2.  Voluntary Safety Testing of Propane
  Events Update:  
           International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (IIAR) 2001 Refrigeration Conference and Exhibition
           
  Announcements: 
           1.  Job Postings for the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center
           2.  AIChE CCPS Announces Call for Papers for its October 2001 Conference


 

Story Abstracts
OSHA News
OSHA Celebrates 30 Year Anniversary
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 was a milestone in providing a regulatory agency with the mandate that it create regulations to improve the health and safety of workers. For a recap of the significant events that have shaped OSHA and it accomplishments, please visit our news story.  
 
DOT News
New Proposed Rule for Pipeline Safety
Following the defeat of legislation in the U.S. House last year, the US DOT RSPA Office of Pipeline Safety has been busy with new regulations under existing statutory authority. In November 2000, AcuSafe News reported on a new final regulation for periodic testing of pipeline integrity. Now RSPA has published a proposed rule that will provide for better corrosion prevention, control, and detection in hazardous liquid pipelines. For details about its key provisions and a copy of the proposed rule, please read the full story.
Chemical Safety Board News
CSB Withdraws "600K" Study
 Board Members at the United States Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) voted unanimously to withdraw the agency’s 1999 preliminary accident data study, which was entitled The 600K Report: Commercial Chemical Incidents in the United States 1987-1996.  For a copy of the CSB press release explaining the reasons for the decision, please read our feature story. 

 

Industry Focus
Revisions to NFPA Standard to Incorporate EPA RMP Requirements 
EPA's Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office participated in the National Fire Protection Association  Technical Committee on Liquefied Petroleum Gases in late November. The Committee agreed to incorporate Clean Air Act Section 112(r) Risk Management Program concepts into NFPA Standard 58. The revised code, expected to be published in early 2001, will require covered businesses to: develop written  operating procedures for all phases of operation; develop and implement a maintenance program; conduct refresher training every three years; and perform a written fire safety analysis and offer local emergency responders an opportunity to review that analysis. The analysis must cover issues concerning worker protection, equipment safety, and public safety.  The revised NFPA 58 will be adopted either by reference or by direct incorporation into state rules. The standard contains requirements on the design, installation, inspection, approval and operation of propane facilities. For more information visit the NFPA website http://www.nfpa.org/Codes/index.html.  For earlier stories on this topic, please review our articles from November 1999 and October 2000

 
Resources
EPA Compliance Assistance Clearinghouse
US EPA has launched The National Compliance Assistance Clearinghouse, a guide to environmental regulatory information on the internet. Intended for collaboration, information exchange and research, this site provides links to compliance assistance resources from around the Internet. This includes links to the US Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies, State and local governments, Tribal agencies, and other sources of compliance assistance information available online. The Clearinghouse also provides a discussion forum to promote collaboration and information exchange. The site is available at http://www.epa.gov/clearinghouse.

API Safety Conference Papers Available
Recent papers presented at the API Safety & Fire Protection Conference and Exhibition, which took place in October 2000, are available on the Internet. The web site only identifies the author of each paper; for your reference, the following table lists the title of the presentation for each author. 

Moore & Medley Employee Based Safety Programs
AcuTech - Moore PSM's Problems and Lessons
Hettinger Why Do Smart People Do Dangerous Things?
Alderman Implication of ISA-S84 on Refining Operations
Mayo Using an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) To Go Beyond PSM Compliance
Watts Safety Regulations Update
Roberts An International Perspective on Human Factors
Belke Chemical Accident Risks in U.S. Industry
Baker Static Electricity Fire Hazards
Brouillard API PSM Database/Metrics

The presentations (all in MS PowerPoint) are available for download at http://www.api.org/ehs/Safety%20Conference%20Papers.htm. 


TANKS Emission Estimation Software Available Now
As part of EPA's Technology Transfer Network, new software that estimates volatile organic compound (VOC) and hazardous air pollutant (HAP) emissions from fixed- and floating-roof storage tanks is available for download. This free program uses chemical, meteorological, roof fitting, and rim seal data to generate emissions estimates for several types of storage tanks. To use the program, one enters specific information about storage tank construction and the stored liquid. The program produces a report estimating VOC emissions. A batch mode of operation is available to generate a single report for multiple tanks. For more information and a free download, got to EPA's TTN web page.

 
Incident News
Monthly Summary of Accidents Involving Process Chemicals or Flammable Materials 
As a service for our readers, we collect and share incident news. This month's installment covers incidents brought to our attention between November 16, 2000 and January 10, 2001.  Most of the incidents covered have caused significant injury, deaths, or major property damage. This month's issue includes accidents in Nigeria, Ecuador, China, South Africa, Singapore, Ukraine, Russia, Japan, Zambia, India, Canada, and the U.S. We welcome input to this effort by submitting summaries of other notable events to editor@acusafe.com.

Voluntary Safety Testing of Propane
In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Cenex Harvest States Cooperatives (CHS) of Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, is voluntarily coordinating the testing of propane gas delivered to dealers in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. The propane may not have contained enough odorant to allow consumers to detect leaking gas, presenting a fire, explosion or thermal burn hazards. Both businesses and residences could be affected. For a list of dealers and for more information, go to http://cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml01/01061.html

 
Events Update

International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (IIAR) 2001 Refrigeration Conference and Exhibition
The IIAR is gearing up for its 2001 conference, which will be held in Long Beach, CA from March 18 - 21, 2001. Papers topics accepted at this year's conference include 
  • Compressor Start-up or System Start-up
  • Demonstrating the Effectiveness of Field Testing Installed Evaporative Vapor Condensers
  • Design for Ammonia Refrigerant Systems
  • Field Demonstration of Performance Benefits of Hydrotreated Paraffnic Refrigeration Oils
  • Gravity Separation Fundamentals & Design
  • High Side Piping II
  • Improving Performance of Ammonia Coils in Freezer Applications
  • Low Charge Air Cooled Ammonia Chiller with Aluminum Microchannel Condenser
  • NH3/H2O Absorption Refrigeration Plants for Large Capacities
  • Refrigeration & Controlled Atmosphere
  • Refrigeration Systems in Supermarkets with Utilization of Ammonia
  • Stress Corrosion Cracking of Steels in Ammonia

For more information, please visit the IIAR web site.

 
Announcements
Job Postings for the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center
There are various employment opportunities available at the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center for its Chemical Safety Assessment Program. The purpose of the Chemical Safety Assessment Program is to assess the effectiveness of current programs by government, industry and others to improve chemical safety in the United States, track progress in this area and facilitate improved chemical process safety. Interested individuals should contact Dr. Sam Mannan for more information about these employment opportunities. Dr. Mannan may be reached at (979)862-3985, or by e-mail at mannan@tamu.edu.

 

AIChE CCPS Announces Call for Papers for its October 2001 Conference
Abstracts are due by February 19, 2001 for the AIChE Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) conference that takes place in Toronto, Canada from October 2 - 5, 2001.  This year's theme is "Making Process Safety Pay Off, Sustaining Performance in the 21st Century."  Papers addressing the challenges of Process Safety Management in the real world will be presented focusing on three general topics: COST, CULTURE, and MEASUREMENT. For more information, please visit the AIChE web site (http://www.aiche.org/ccps/icw) or call (212)591-7319. 

 

 
 


 
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