They give the job of safety engineer to someone that is incapable of doing
anything else after he has been brain washed to makes sure all common
sense
he might have had has been erased.
Write up the safety engineer as prescribing an unsafe installation. Tell
the
distraction that you will not assume any liability for a installation that
you know to be unsafe because of faulty design and will require all people
working in the lab to sign a wavier informing them of the unsafe
installation. The safety engineer is not untouchable. To keep from making
him look like the fool his is make a short run of high pressure tubing and
put in a T to dump the pressure into a safe area.
I don't know what the fallout of being right is over this but you can beat
city hall the price may be more than you are willing to pay.
Actually an orifice on the high pressure side slightly larger than will
allow you maxim flow and pressure will make the whole thing fail safe so
no
high pressure can escape through failed controls.
I see people that want to put a cut off valve on a rubber people line at
the
burner on a furnace instead of the tank. If anything ever happens and they
cut off the valve at the burner and the hose burns thought the fire is
between them and the tank. If the only cutoff valve and regulator is at
the
tank they will be at the tank to regulate the flame and shut down the
valve
in case of a problem and there will be no risk of a fire from a broken
hose
at all. How every they can not see it that way.
With the background today's students have they are dangerous with a
feather
duster. Very few have any experience at all. Many don't know what work is
they have never seen any. And they have never done any thing that involves
safety. Schools have sanitize there programs to the point that the rough
spots in the sidewalks are inspected once a week so the poor darlings
don't
stump their toe.
Gordon
"Gregg" <gcrume@adelphia.net> wrote in message
news:Hh3gb.35475$qj6.1978041@news1.news.adelphia.net...
snip-
The save distance part is the key to anything you do. My neighbor made
substantial amounts of nitro glycerin in the 50's using mechanically
remote
controlled mixing in 55 gallon barrels of ice water from behind an
earthen
berm. The mistakes were spectacular but harmless. I drove by the farm
he
was
did it on a couple of weeks ago and most of the evidence is grown over
now.
Gordon Couger
Stillwater, OK
www.couger.com/gcouger
Funny you should mention what it takes to be safe
I wish you were around when I was in grad school - to lecture some of
the
students.
There is nothing so reassuring as walking into a lab and being surprised
by
a brightly glowing microwave on the other side of the door.
Or running to a room because a grad student is screaming at another
student
who is about to pour 20% HF in a sink to clean glass ware.
On the other end of the spectrum - I just had a go around at work about
safety - I have to hook a CO2 cylinder up to a piece of equipment.
I wanted to hook up a flow regulator (small flows 10 liters an hour at ~
5psi pressure) - no problem right? - 5 minute job right?
The safety engineer (I use that term loosely) said a flow regulator and
two
pressure relief valves were not enough We needed a line capable of
holding
700psi from the tank to the equipment - in case the regulator and safety
valves failed (and I was the one who had to insist on a portable CO2
monitor)- now this line runs into tygon tubing ???
If - and I mean if -the regulator and the pressure relief valves fail
all
at
once - the line will blow up in the operator's face instead of back at
the
tank - 10ft away. This job will cost $1000's and it's been a couple of
months so far and I'm still waiting. (by the way this is an A priority
project)
Dilbert lives,
Gregg
