Process safety incidents occur in operations of all sizes, in the petrochemical industries and many other operations that handle chemicals. One thing many process incidents have in common; they start with a…

On May 4, 2023, approximately 790 pounds (358Kg) of a hydrocarbon mixture containing hydrogen sulfide (H2S) was accidentally released at a refinery in California. Exposure to the toxic H2S gas seriously injured…

In August 2013, a refinery in India was commissioning a new cooling tower cell. As process water was introduced into the new cell for the first time, a large quantity of light…

A  release of high-pressure hydrogen occurred at a hydrogen trailer transfer/filling facility in Santa Clara, California, on June 1, 2019. A driver and trainee were filling a tube trailer from a hydrogen…

In April 2019, at a facility producing specialty chemicals, a piping section filled with liquid isobutene was closed off. As its temperature slowly increased, a cast-iron strainer burst, leaving a hand-sized hole.…

In August 2017, a major fire occurred at a refinery in the Netherlands when a furnace tube ruptured. The furnace was overheated when the process flow through it stopped, but the burners…

A large plant was restarting after hydrotesting the steam superheater coils on a reformer furnace. No modification had been made to the coils. The locking pins on spring hangers for the pendant…

On July 20, 2020, a 35-year-old worker was fatally injured while working on a road construction project in New York state. The cause was severe heat illness, often called Heat Stroke. The…

In 2021, three contract workers at a facility in La Porte, Texas, were removing the actuator from a plug valve. The actuator was being removed so the valve could be used as…

Case study1An operator was screening a pharmaceutical powder by manually loading a mechanical vibrating sieve. The sieved powder was collected below in a stainless steel drum on a dolly with insulating (nylon)…