Amplify Your Process Safety

In today's episode, Rob sits down with Blaine J. Hoffmann, from The SafetyPro Podcast, to discuss his new book, titled "Rethinking SAFETY Culture". Blaine details why he was motivated to write the book, how he defines safety culture, and discusses ways to implement the ideas he presents in "Rethinking SAFETY Culture". He also talks about his recommendations for digital safety management systems, how KPIs can be used to improve safety cultures, and more.

Find Blaine on LinkedIn here, find "Rethinking SAFETY Culture" on Amazon here, and be sure to check out Blaine's library of over 175 episodes at ⁠thesafetypropodcast.com⁠ or wherever you find your podcasts.

We also invite you to check out our previous episodes with Blaine, where we teamed up to discuss a variety of topics from both a process safety lens and an occupational safety lens.

In this episode, Rob is joined by the newest member of the Amplify Process Safety team, Magi Riech. Rob sits down with Magi to talk about her background and her journey into process safety throughout her career, and what fuels her passion for PSM/RMP. Welcome to the A Team, Magi!

To connect with Magi, find her on LinkedIn here or email her at [email protected].

To learn more about the rest of our team, visit www.amplifyconsultants.com/about or check out our other intro episodes below:

In this very special episode, Rob and Molly sit down with Mike Washington, who is the Director of Industrial Safety at Arkema Inc,. The Americas, and also an adjunct lecturer at Prairie View A&M University and the University of Houston. They discuss the challenges of educating the next generation of engineers and managers on process safety, and touch on what current gaps they see, best practices to fill those gaps, and their hopes for the future, including how higher education can help to better

Mike invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-washington-m-b-a-067b2520/.

On April 2, 2019, the KMCO production facility in Crosby, TX, was producing sulfurized isobutylene as a lubrication additive, when they experienced a leak from a fracture in a segment of piping. The leaking material formed a vapor cloud and then found an ignition source, resulting in the death of one employee and serious injuries to two other employees. In this episode, Rob and Molly discuss what happened in detail, cover the contributing factors, and finally touch on the key learnings that other facilities can take away from this tragic event. Find the CSB's final report on this incident at https://www.csb.gov/csb-releases-final-report-into-fatal-2019-explosion-and-fire/.

On January 28, 2021, the Foundation Food Group facility in Gainesville, Georgia, experienced a liquid nitrogen release that ultimately resulted in six employee fatalities. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released their final investigation report into this incident on December 11, 2023, and today Molly and Jo are here to cover all of the report's highlights. We'll walk you through details regarding the day of the incident, the hazards of liquid nitrogen, the root cause of the incident and other contributing factors, and close with what any company can learn from this incident. As always, we thank the CSB for their thorough reporting on this incident, and invite you to read their final investigation report at the link below.

https://www.csb.gov/csb-releases-final-report-into-2021-fatal-liquid-nitrogen-release-at-foundation-food-group-facility-in-georgia/

On December 6, 2023, the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released its final report into the 2017 fatal dust explosion and fire at the Didion Milling Facility in Cambria, WI. In today's episode, Rob and Jo give you an overview of the CSB's findings, covering what happened, the causes, the recommendations CSB made, what types of companies could be at risk from incidents like this one, and key lessons for the industry.

Find the resources we mention in this week's episode at the links below:

CSB Report

In this extra special episode, the whole Amplify crew is here to talk about how 2023 unfolded in terms of process safety. They cover an overview of CSB accidental release events as well as other process safety events they tracked across multiple countries and industries throughout the year, and what their big takeaways are from looking at all the data available for these incidents. In the second half of the episode, they share six process safety related New Years' resolutions you can adopt at your own facility in 2024 to help you have an incident-free year.

A huge thank you to all of our listeners for tuning in to our show this year. We wish you all the happiest of holidays and a safe 2024, and we look forward to bringing you more episodes in the new year.

In this episode, Molly is joined by Brad Bazargani, who listeners may recognize as one of the process safety professionals who participated in Episode 84. Today, Molly and Brad discuss how to integrate process safety into large capital projects, including when PHAs should be conducted and which methodology should be used, managing changes, considerations for facility siting, development of operator training and procedures, establishment of MI programs, conducting PSSRs, and handling a large volume of process safety information. Listeners interested in connecting with Brad can find him on LinkedIn here.

Find another episode we mentioned today, Episode 74 - The Challenges of Engineering in a High Hazard Plant with Guest Doug McMahon, here.

In this episode, Rob and Molly cover the latest CSB final report on the 2021 fatal vapor explosion and fire at the Yenkin-Majestic facility in Columbus, OH.

On April 8, 2021, a mixture of flammable naphtha solvent vapors and resin liquid escaped through the seal of a closed manway of an operating kettle and created a flammable vapor cloud, which quickly found an ignition source. The resulting explosion and fire led to the death of one employee, injuries to eight others, and over $90 million in property damage.

In this episode, Rob and Molly cover additional details related to the event, including contributing factors, share the CSB's recommendations, and then finally cover key lessons that any company can learn from this incident.

Find the CSB's final report for this incident ⁠here⁠.

If you have a comment about this week's episode, an idea for a future episode, or any process safety related question, please drop us a line at amplifyconsultants.com.

Other episodes we mentioned today:

Episode 75 - Mechanical Integrity (MI) Inspection Requirements with Guest William McBride

Episode 69 - Incident Breakdown: 2019 Explosion and Fire at AB Specialty Silicones