Safety board study shows training lapse at US Goodyear accident

28 January 2011 00:14  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS)--A case study released on the 2008 heat exchanger rupture and ammonia release at a Goodyear synthetic rubber plant in Houston showed gaps in the facility’s emergency response training, the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) said on Thursday.

The CSB said that maintenance work activity was not properly communicated between maintenance and operations personnel.

As a result, after maintenance work on the day prior to the accident required the closing of several valves on a heat exchanger, an operator closed another valve on the following morning.

That left no means of relieving excess pressure in the exchanger.

In addition, CSB investigators found that on the day of the accident, the employee tracking system did not operate properly and made it difficult to account for all employees.

The CSB said the accident likely would not have occurred if the plant had adhered to the existing American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code.

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By: Ben DuBose
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