Chemical Plant Safety Resources

As one of the lifting equipment in plant site, forklift should receive adequate attention especially about its safety. Various potential hazards are associated with forklift operation. Complete check before forklift operation will ensure not only forklift driver safety, but also other employees and company assets.

A forklift safety checklist will help ensuring the forklift safety condition. It will help you identify any problem and potential problem with forklift. Having forklift safety checklist is essential and it shall be provided within your plant site.

Questions in the forklift safety checklist should be answered with Yes or No and complete with remark or comment if the answer is No. (more…)

ear plugs

Hearing protection devices are used to control high level noise hazards, when engineering and administrative controls can not decrease the noise level. They may come in the form of ear plugs or ear muffs.

In order to know that you are exposed to high level noise hazards, then you should measure the noise level from the sources at your workplace. Each noise source has different nature. It could expose noise hazards in impulsive, intermittent or even continuous manner.

Besides ear plug and ear muffs, there is another hearing protection device available in the market, e.g. canal caps. (more…)

Occupational noise hazard are frequently ignored by most workers as well as employers because it is invisible. They prioritize visible hazards such like fire, hazardous chemical, compressed gases, falls, slips and electric hazards. They think these hazards could be harmful to workers’ safety and health directly. However, most worker and employers do not realize that occupational noise will do the same. The differences are only on delay and indirect effect.

We understand that long-term exposure of high occupational noise will not hurt worker’s leg like fall accident. But they do not realize that the soft tissue inside the ears will be damaged and occupational noise hazard can cause permanent damaged to worker’s hearing ability.

Of course it takes time to see the effect of high noise level hazard to worker’s hearing ability, since it depends on noise level and exposure time. Each country in the world may have determined its own permissible noise exposure level (dB) and exposure time.

Hearing Loss Symptoms

 Hearing loss is the most severe effect of loud occupational noise, although it is not a painful effect. Generally, there are several symptoms that accompany hearing loss. It could be muted sounding voices, ringing felt inside the ears, which is evident in silent places, and feeling of strain inside the ears.

Inner ears damage may remain even though hearing loss symptoms are weaken. The condition will get worse if exposure to hazardous occupational noise level is continued.

Workers who have already suffered hearing loss will face big problem for their individual and family life. Workers’ life will be saddening, stressful and frustrating.

After knowing the occupational noise hazards, the next step that we should do is to identify dangerous noise level sources in the plant site and take necessary counter measures to control the hazards. Put safety signs that show noise level (dB) of these sources in order to remind the workers.

A few days ago, another company has been cited for safety and health violations after being inspected by OSHA that started in August 2009. The company is C&W Industries in Union Springs, Alabama, which provides material handling systems.

According to ohsonline.com, there were some safety and health violations that were found during OSHA inspection. These violations caused the company to be cited for $59,250 of penalties. (more…)

Hydrostatic test is used for confirming mechanical integrity of installed pressure vessels and pipe lines. It has to be completed before putting the pressure vessels and pipe lines in use.

According to ASME Section VIII Division I, hydrostatic pressure is conducted at the pressure of 1.5 times design pressure. If a vessel is design for holding 1.0 kg/cm2.g pressure, the hydrostatic pressure test has to be done at 1.5 kg/cm2.g. (more…)

ball valve

There are many drain valves around the plant site. These valves can be installed at equipments or pipe lines. Generally, they are operated only at certain conditions such as for draining condensate and depressurized equipment or piping line. In this case, we talk about ball valve with valve handle type as shown by the image on left.

However, these drain valves may be operated accidentally, hit by plant operators or misoperation, which potentially creating an emergency situation. As an example, if the drained material is highly flammable liquid. (more…)

Because carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless, many workers in the plant site do not realize its existence in the workplace. Thus, preventive measures hold fundamental safety function in order to reduce carbon monoxide generation, avoid concentration buildup, alert workers about its existence and prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.

You may have established some preventive measures against CO. But the list below may give you another idea for completing hazard controls against CO. (more…)