I apologize for not posting in a while – I’ve recently accepted a position as an instructor at Garden City Ammonia Program in Garden City, Kansas. GCAP is the best ammonia training school for Operators and ammonia refrigeration PSM practitioners in the world and I’m very happy to be part of their team. They train about 700 operators a year. If you would like more information on them please go to ammoniatraining.com
My wife and I are finally settled in and unpacked so here’s two links I’ve been meaning to post:
European Contractors Association issues guide to low GWP refrigerants
“The European Association of National AC&R Contractor Associations (AREA) has issued a position on low Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerants. The document provides guidance on the basic competences that contractors dealing with such refrigerants should have. AREA concludes that ammonia should find broader applications as a refrigerant than it currently enjoys.” —Ammonia21.com
Ammonia21.com is always a good source for ammonia news especially concerning trends in the industry as a whole.
Next we have a real thought-provoking article from David G Broadbent on how we deal with corporate safety failures vs how we treat an individuals safety failure:
“Consider this. Last night on the local news I heard of a guy who assaulted his neighbour. What happened was that it was the 1st anniversary of the death of his young daughter in a house fire, I know about this one, as I was called in to conduct the Critical Incident Debrief for this horrendous nightmare – I can tell you, I shed some tears that night. Anyway, the father was sitting in his house listening to a piece of music that was one of his daughters favourites. Neighbour comes and knocks on the door and tells him to “turn that **(&* music down”. After a heated discussion an assault takes place. Result: Father to be sentenced next week.
Consider this. A guy is sitting at the local hotel/bar having a few beers alone. He is lonely. His divorce papers were served on him earlier in the day. He knows he’s maybe had one too many drinks. It’s only two km’s home so he decides to take the risk and drive. As he accelerates out of the driveway he hits a young triathlete out doing his training. Kid is killed. Result: Three years gaol.
It is now time that, as a community, we hold our workplaces to the same level of expectation as we do our domestic situations and our vehicular responsibilities. In the two examples cited above I am sure many of us can appreciate, at least to some degree, where those guys were “at”.
When it comes to the drink driving scenario above, there was no “intent” to harm anybody; yet that guy shall be spending a few years locked up. The same could be said for corporate executives who make direct decisions which significantly contribute in the death of employees. Of course there was no “intent”. I would argue though there may well be “foreseeability” in some of these circumstances. It shall be up to the Courts to determine the “measure” against which to make such determinations. The bar needs to come down!
A far from ideal solution. What we can say with some certainty is; “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got”. In this case what we keep getting is bodies!” —TransformationalSafety.com
You can subcribe to David’s newsletter at this link.
Update: I am thinking this Texas Bakery is a good example of a business that just doesn’t seem to take safety seriously. Nearly $500,000 in fines in five years. It’s a BAKERY not a refinery – this shouldn’t be difficult to fix if the desire to do the right thing is there. Perhaps this lumbermill is another good example.
