Bi-Weekly Safety Meeting November 29, 2012

The days of using canaries in mines as primitive gas detectors are long gone..they've been replaced by fixed gas detection systems and portable gas monitors. GAS MONITORING These instruments are designed to alert workers to unseen hazards that may exist in workplace environments, including in confined spaces.

GAS MONITORING – Examples of Single and Multi gas monitors: Single gas monitor –H2S –CO Multi Gas Monitor –H2S –CO –O2 –LEL

GAS MONITORING The only way that you can be certain that a portable gas monitor will respond appropriately to a potentially threatening gas hazard is to test it with a known concentration of the target gas.

GAS MONITORING What exactly is a bump test anyway? –Very simply, it is a brief exposure, or bump, of a portable gas monitor with a known concentration of the target gas or gases which is used to verify that the sensor responds accordingly and the instrument functions properly. –A bump test is not intended to be a measure of the accuracy of the instrument. A bump test station

GAS MONITORING What is calibration? –Instrument calibration refers to exposing the monitor to a known quantity of the measured substance (real or simulated) and resetting the instrument if required. –This verifies that the instrument is operating properly and adjusts for any sensor drift.

GAS MONITORING Portable gas monitors should be worn in the “breathing zone” – this zone is the area 4-6 feet from the ground, where most human breathing takes place.

A Mangan employee was in the Tesoro LAR ISOM Unit monitoring 26AT302 Sulfur Analyzer when his personal H 2 S monitor alarmed. The employee immediately removed himself from the analyzer shed area and started to feel dizzy. *This incident took place in 2008

The employee walked to the ISOM Operators Shelter and reported the incident. His H 2 S monitor had peaked at 115 ppm. Operations took readings after the incident and followed up. The Mangan employee was taken to the clinic for observation and released…no treatment was rendered.

GAS MONITORING If the alarm on a portable gas monitor is activated, it is the responsibility of the employee wearing the device to respond properly to the alarm. Following an alarm: –See to personal safety –Notify the unit operator or supervisor –Turn the monitor in – readings will be downloaded –Either new monitor is issued or existing monitor given back (following a bump test)

INTRINSIC SAFETY What does "intrinsically safe" mean? –Intrinsic safety is a requirement that may be applicable to devices that are being operated in areas with flammable gases or fuels. It means that the device is incapable of igniting those gases.

INTRINSIC SAFETY Intrinsically safe equipment is defined as: –"equipment and wiring which is incapable of releasing sufficient electrical or thermal energy under normal or abnormal conditions to cause ignition of a specific hazardous atmospheric mixture in its most easily ignited concentration.”

INTRINSIC SAFETY For a fire or an explosion to occur, fuel, oxygen and a source of ignition must be present. An intrinsically safe device assumes that fuel and oxygen are present, and is therefore designed so that electrical energy or thermal energy is never great enough to cause ignition.

INTRINSIC SAFETY Hazardous Environments –Hazardous environments include areas where flammable gases, vapors and liquids are stored and manufactured. –These areas are prevalent in many of today's manufacturing facilities including chemical plants, paint manufacturers, oil refineries, textile mills, etc. –Each designated hazardous environment has specific certification requirements for all equipment used in the I-Safe (intrinsically safe) area.

INTRINSIC SAFETY Intrinsically safe equipment must carry a label, which specifies the exact I-Safe rating for the equipment and the name of the NRTL (Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory) who tested it. Testing laboratories have very stringent certification requirements that vary according to the level of I-Safe approval desired.

INTRINSIC SAFETY Therefore, each intrinsically safe device is certified for different levels of I-Safe approval, and can only be used in specific hazardous environments.

INTRINSIC SAFETY Most cell phones are not intrinsically safe Be sure you know the policy regarding intrinsically safe device requirements for the sites you work at!

QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? Please