Monthly Archives: July 2010

Benefits of a Trained Professional Ammonia Operator

“Without Standardization, there can be no improvement” That’s one of my favorite phrases from Lean/Six Sigma. Is the person who is in charge of your ammonia system someone who genuinely cares about how your system is running? Are they the … Continue reading

Posted in General Information, Operator Training, Standardization, System Optimization | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

A gem from the National Transportation Safety Board

I read accident reports from all sorts of sources. A few years ago I read through the entire NTSB online library for fun and I still keep up with the new ones. There were many good insights in the reports … Continue reading

Posted in Incidents, Standardization | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Another six figure Ammonia Refrigeration Process Safety Management fine

From the OSHA press release: BRAINTREE, Mass. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited American Seafoods International LLC for 15 alleged willful and serious violations of safety and health standards at its New Bedford, … Continue reading

Posted in Compliance | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Another six figure Ammonia Refrigeration Process Safety Management fine

OSHA PSM National Emphasis Program Extended

Last year our good friends at OSHA finally started moving their PSM inspectors away from the oil refineries. A National Emphasis Plan was created to audit PSM. The NEP is targeted at Ammonia and Chlorine users – 32411 NAICS code … Continue reading

Posted in Compliance | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Coors Ammonia Leak

In the news today: Part of Coors facility evacuated due to ammonia leak. This is something no ammonia refrigeration operator wants to happen on their watch. Thankfully it appears to have only affected the facility and not the neighborhood around … Continue reading

Posted in Community Involvement, Incidents | Comments Off on Coors Ammonia Leak

Actual OSHA Citations

Here’s a summary of two recent collections of proposed fines from OSHA. I’m not in any way affiliated with either of these facilities; I was just fortunate enough to get copies of the citations. There are plenty of things in … Continue reading

Posted in Compliance | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Actual OSHA Citations

EPA settles with Pacific Seafood Group

EPA extracted a $35,000 penalty for not complying with the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act. In the agreement, EPA alleges that Pacific Seafood failed to immediately notify emergency response entities after the ammonia release occurred and they failed … Continue reading

Posted in Compliance | Tagged , , | Comments Off on EPA settles with Pacific Seafood Group

OSHA vs. EPA

If you are covered under OSHA’s PSM regulation you know that you are covered under the EPA’s RMP regulation as well. I understand why most people focus on the PSM regulations – they are used to dealing with OSHA regulations … Continue reading

Posted in Compliance | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on OSHA vs. EPA

Learning Industrial Ammonia Refrigeration

Lets say that you are new to industrial refrigeration, or refrigeration in general. What is the easiest way to get up to speed on this rather counter-intuitive topic? Well, I read quite a few books on the subject but honestly … Continue reading

Posted in Operator Training | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

What’s all this, then?

I work for a fairly large company implementing a Process Safety Management / Risk Management Program for four separate facilities with Ammonia refrigeration systems. I also operate a consulting service on PSM / RMP including writing complete programs for them. … Continue reading

Posted in General Information | Tagged | Comments Off on What’s all this, then?