Welders at risk of toxic and explosive fumes

Blast kills temporary worker, critically injures another

Employers need to verify fire and explosion hazards: OSHA

MOSS POINT, Miss. — Two temporary workers hired to cut and weld pipes at the Omega Protein plant in Moss Point on July 28, 2014, had no idea and had no training to know that the storage tank beneath them contained explosive methane and hydrogen sulfide gases.

One of the two men found out later as he lay in a hospital with a fractured skull, internal injuries and broken bones. The second, a 25-year-old man named Jerry Taylor, died when the tank exploded.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigated the incident and has found four companies violated safety regulations that could have prevented the tragedy.

The companies are Accu-Fab & Construction Inc., Omega Protein, and JP Williams Machine & Fabrication, all in Moss Point, and Global Employment, in Pascagoula.

Accu-Fab, a metal fabricator, was contracted by Omega Protein to manufacture and erect a wastewater storage tank that required modification of existing pipes.

A staffing agency, Global Employment Services, provided Accu-Fab with the employees needed at Omega. JP Williams Machine, which provides industrial service and repair, was on-site the day of the explosion performing unrelated maintenance activities.

"The Omega Protein plant explosion shines a spotlight on how critical it is for employers to verify, isolate and remove fire and explosion hazards in employee work areas," said Eugene Stewart, OSHA's area director in Jackson. "If the employer ensured a safe environment, this tragic incident could have been prevented."

Repeated violations

OSHA issued 13 citations to Omega Protein, a producer of omega-3 fish oil and specialty fish meal products, for willful, repeated and serious safety violations.

OSHA issued a willful citation for exposing employees to fire and explosion hazards due to Omega management's failure to inform Accu-Fab that the storage tank contained wastewater that could generate hydrogen sulfide and methane gases, which can be highly explosive and toxic, even at low concentrations.

The repeated violations involve not having standard railings on open-sided floors and platforms and failing to label electrical boxes properly.

Omega Protein was cited previously for these same violations in 2012. Additionally, the serious hazards included allowing workers to weld and cut piping on an improperly prepared storage tank containing explosive methane and hydrogen sulfide gases and failing to label or tag the storage tank to note that it contained hazardous chemicals.

OSHA cited Accu-Fab for one willful, four serious and two other-than-serious violations. The willful violation was issued for failure to train workers on chemical hazards in the work area, such as hydrogen sulfide, methane, welding gas and paints.

Global Employment Services was issued a serious citation for this same hazard.

Additionally, both employers were cited for a serious violation for failure to instruct employees about avoiding unsafe work conditions.

Accu-Fab was also cited for failure to ensure employees working on top of a storage tank at heights of up to 29 feet were wearing fall protection and for not recording this fatality or two other recordable injuries.

JP Williams was issued one serious citation for improperly storing oxygen and acetylene cylinders.

Exposure to acetylene can cause headache, dizziness, asphyxiation and even frostbite.

Proposed penalties for the four companies total $187,620.

OSHA has conducted 13 inspections at Omega Protein facilities in Mississippi, Virginia and Louisiana since 1998. The company received citations for noise exposure, personnel protective equipment, machine guarding, welding and cutting and electrical hazards.

Accu-Fab has three prior OSHA inspections, most recently in 2002, and has been cited for scaffolding, forklift, welding, cutting and electrical violations. Both JP Williams and Global Employment have no prior OSHA inspection history.

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Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit OSHA's website.

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Researchers developing bacteria to turn methane waste into diesel fuel

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a group led by the University of Washington $4 million to develop bacteria that can turn the methane in natural gas into diesel fuel for transportation.

"The product that we’re shooting for will have the same fuel characteristics as diesel," said principal investigator Mary Lidstrom, a UW professor of chemical engineering and microbiology. "It can be used in trucks, boats, buses, cars, tractors – anything that diesel does now."

They will target the natural gas associated with oil fields, which is often flared off as waste, as well as so-called "stranded" natural gas reserves that are too small for a pipeline to be economically viable.

The team aims to capture that natural gas and use bacteria to turn its main component, methane, into a liquid fuel for transportation.

"The goal at the end of three years is to have an integrated process that will be ready for pre-commercialization pilot testing," Lidstrom said.

Toxic benzene leaking from gas fields

Leaks include benzene,
scientists say.

Air pollution from drilling operations much worse than thought, scientists say

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is warning about high methane and benzene gas levels escaping from oil and gas drilling operations in Colorado.

The scientists stumbled onto their discovery after setting up a routine tower-based monitoring system a few years ago.

When one tower recorded high levels of methane and benzene, they tried to find the source and traced it back to oil and gas production in northeastern Colorado’s Weld Country.

The gas operations were leaking double the amount of methane than previously thought and they also leaked other pollutants, including benzene, which is regulated by the EPA because of its toxicity.

The researchers were also concerned about other volatile organic compounds leaking out.

NOAA published its results in the Journal of Geophysical Research in late February.

Source: Summit Voice

Protect workers and residents from toxins near gas fields

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