🌿 Hana and the Lesson of Inherent Safety

Hana had just joined a multinational chemical company as a young process engineer. On her first day, she was given a tour of the plant. Towers, pipes, storage tanks — everything looked massive and intimidating. But what truly caught her attention were the safety posters that said:

⚠️ “Safety is not an option. It must be designed.”

Curious, Hana asked her mentor, “Why do we talk so much about designing safety instead of just controlling hazards?”

Her mentor smiled, “That’s because we believe in Inherent Safety. Instead of adding alarms, sensors, and protective gear after building the plant, we design the process itself to be safer from the beginning.”

Over the weeks, Hana was trained in the four key principles of inherent safety:

1. Minimize – use smaller quantities of hazardous chemicals whenever possible.

2. Substitute – replace dangerous substances with safer alternatives.

3. Moderate – operate at lower pressure and temperature to reduce risks.

4. Simplify – make designs clear, easy to understand, and less prone to human error.

One day, Hana was assigned to a project involving the storage of a highly flammable solvent. The original design proposed large storage tanks under high pressure. Hana paused and thought back to her training.

Instead of blindly following the design, she proposed:

• Using smaller storage tanks spread across the site (Minimize).

• Checking if the solvent could be replaced with a less hazardous mixture (Substitute).

• Storing it under ambient pressure and moderate conditions (Moderate).

• Simplifying the pipeline layout to avoid complex valves that often failed (Simplify).

At first, the management hesitated, worried about the higher initial cost. But Hana presented a compelling case: in the long run, the company would avoid costly accidents, environmental harm, and reputational damage.

Months later, an incident occurred at a nearby competitor’s plant that did not adopt inherent safety. A catastrophic fire caused millions in losses. Meanwhile, Hana’s plant remained safe and stable.

Standing in front of the site, Hana reflected:
💡 “True safety is not about reacting to accidents. It’s about preventing them at the source. We cannot negotiate with hazards — we must design them out.”

---

📌 Footnote (Reference)

Khan, F. I., & Amyotte, P. R. (2003). How to make inherent safety practice a reality. The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, 81(1), 2–16. https://doi.org/10.1002/cjce.5450810102

#safety #hsse #processsafety #engineering #usm #engineer #palmoilmill #miller

🧯 Hana and the Safe Mill: A Story of Chemical Stewardship

The palm oil mill was alive with its usual rhythm — boilers steaming, conveyors moving, and trucks rumbling in with fresh fruit bunches. But this time, Hana, the mill manager, had a different mission.

She wasn’t only thinking about production.
She was thinking about safety.

One morning, during her inspection, she noticed a half-empty drum of hydrochloric acid placed near a pallet of caustic soda. Her heart tightened. She knew this wasn’t just poor housekeeping — it was a potential disaster.

---

1. Segregating Chemicals by Compatibility

Hana called her supervisors and said:

"Acids don’t belong near bases. Flammables can never sit beside oxidizers. If they react, one mistake can cost lives."

She introduced color-coded shelves — red for acids, blue for bases, yellow for flammables. With one glance, workers could tell where each chemical belonged.

Chemical incompatibility is a leading cause of accidents in storage areas, and segregation is the first line of defense [1].

---

2. Using the Right Storage Units

Next, Hana took them to the chemical shed.

She pointed to the paint thinners and solvents: "These are flammable. They must stay inside fire-resistant, ventilated cabinets."

Then, she showed the sulfuric acid drums: "For corrosives, no more rusty metal racks. From today, we use coated shelves that resist corrosion."

Even the oxygen and LPG cylinders had new places — strapped upright with chains, safely away from heat.

Proper storage infrastructure is proven to reduce risk of fire, leaks, and gas cylinder accidents [2].

---

3. Labeling and Signage

One afternoon, Hana gathered the clerks. She handed them rolls of labels.

"Every container gets a proper name, hazard class, and the date it was received or opened," she instructed.

They also posted hazard signage outside the storage area: NFPA diamonds, GHS symbols, and bold words: CAUTION – CHEMICAL STORAGE.

Clear labeling and signage not only comply with law but also improve hazard communication for all personnel [3].

---

4. Maintaining Ventilation

Hana walked the team to the back of the storage shed. The air was heavy with the faint smell of solvent.

"Do you feel this?" she asked. "That’s vapor. Without ventilation, it builds up until one spark makes it deadly."

She ordered local exhaust fans for volatile storage and made sure windows stayed open to keep air flowing.

Adequate ventilation prevents accumulation of flammable or toxic vapors, a well-documented best practice [4].

---

5. Controlling Environmental Conditions

Finally, Hana reminded them about the little things:

• Keep drums away from direct sunlight.
• Store chemicals above flood levels to avoid water contact.
• Check temperature and humidity in sensitive storage.

Environmental factors often trigger chemical deterioration, reactivity, and leaks — making monitoring essential [5].

---

🌴 The Transformation

Months later, auditors visited the mill. The chemical storage areas were no longer chaotic corners — they were models of discipline and safety.

The auditor smiled: “This is beyond compliance. This is leadership.”

Hana looked at her team with pride. She knew the changes weren’t about rules on paper. They were about protecting lives.

And as she left the shed, she whispered to herself:
"Production builds profit. Safety builds people. And people are the true strength of a mill."

---

📚 References

[1] U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Chemical Hazard Communication and Compatibility Guidelines. 2022.
[2] NFPA 30. Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code. National Fire Protection Association, 2021.
[3] Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). United Nations, 2021.
[4] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Ventilation and Storage Requirements for Hazardous Chemicals. 2020.
[5] Chemical Safety Board (CSB). Case Studies in Chemical Storage and Environmental Controls. 2022.

#blog #blogger #chemical #dosh #jkkp #kembarainsan #malaysia 

KESELAMATAN tanggungjawab bersama

1. Dianggarkan hampir RM25 juta Petronas akan rugi kesan kes paip gas bocor.

2. Jumlah ini tidak termasuk kerugian ditanggung oleh banyak syarikat atau kilang tidak dapat beroperasi disebabkan oleh tiada sumber gas. Gas digunakan untuk operasi boiler, kegunaan tenaga utama untuk operasikan kilang.

3. Sejumlah kilang telah tidak beroperasi sehinggalah paip ini disambung dan dibaiki. Puluhan ribu pekerja tidak akan mendapat gaji disebabkan perkara ini. 

4. Belum kita sebut kesusahan mangsa yang rumahnya musnah sekelip mata.

5. Kemalangan yang berlaku secara langsung dan tidak langsung akan menyusahkan ramai pihak sekali gus. 

6. Pihak yang melakukan kesalahan sama ada sengaja atau tidak, telah menyebabkan semua pihak menanggung kesusahan jangka masa pendek mahu pun panjang.

7. Sampai bila kita sebagai warga negara yang ingin maju mahu perkara ini berterusan. Adakah apabila perkara itu berlaku kepada diri kira baru kita mahu mengambil iktibar?

8. Isu keselamatan (di mana jua sama ada tempat kerja, di dalam kereta, di rumah, di dalam kapal terbang mahu pun dalam tubuh badan kita) menjadi tanggungjawab semua pihak.

9. Kita tidak boleh lagi berkata, oh itu urusan orang lain, bukan urusan aku. Maka kita tidak masuk campur dan biarkan ia berlaku. Kita mesti masuk campur, tegur, cegah dan pastikan ia tidak diteruskan.

10. Perbuatan itu mungkin akan ada tindakbalas, namun dengan teguran dan tidakan kita, ia mungkin menyelamatkan nyawa, harta benda dan semua kesusahan yang bakal terjadi.

11. Setiap NEARMISS atau hampir kemalangan mesti dilaporkan segera kepada pihak berkuasa. Kita boleh elak kejadian yang berlaku jika saksi yang melihat, menghidu kebocoran gas segera melaporkan lebih awal. Jika pun ia disedari oleh pesalah, perbuatan itu sekurangnya mampu mengelakkan kerosakkan lebih besar dari berlaku.

12. Disebabkan kesedaran keselamatan di negara kita masih jauh, kita telah menyaksikan malapetaka ini berlaku di depan mata kita. Puluhan juta ringgit ini sebenarnya boleh digunakan untuk perkara lebih bermanfaat.

13. Ayuh kita sama - sama meningkatkan kesedaran keselamatan di mana jua kita berada. Ini adalah tanggungjawab kita bersama dan ia sebahagian dari amal makruf dan nahi mungkar yang telah ditetapkan oleh agama.

14. Jika buang duri boleh dapat pahala, bayangkan kita buang risiko besar yang boleh elak nyawa dari hilang!

Keselamatan tanggungjawab semua.

Jurutera Stim Gred 1

21 tahun dalam industri.

*Satu jiwa hilang, bakal ada lagi 5 orang ahli keluarga, 10 saudara, 50 sahabat, 100 kenalan akan terkesan. Kita mampu mengubahnya.

Safety is a journey

Keselamatan

1. Adalah suatu perjalanan. Ada destinasi, tapi jalannya panjang. Selagi risiko berlegar di sekeliling kita, maka perjalanan itu berterusan tanpa henti.

2. Lebih kurang 20 tahun lepas, satu kemalangan maut berlaku di tempat kerja. Selepas segala urusan berkaitan kes dilakukan, pengurus saya membuka cerita. Setelah sekian lama beliau me diamkan diri tak kala kami sedang minum petang di kantin kilang.

3. Beliau bersuara, kita telah melakukan banyak perkara. Kita telah larang jangan buat itu dan ini. Namun masih ada pekerja yang degil dan melanggar arahan serta peraturan keselamatan. Kini satu nyawa telah hilang.

4. APA LAGI YANG KITA BOLEH LAKUKAN?

5. Setelah lebih 20 tahun kejadian berlaku dan mencari jawapannya, saya kira jawapannya adalah, usaha keselamatan adalah sebuah perjalanan. Ia ada destinasi, namun tiada jalan penamat, tiada jalan henti rehat. Perjalanan yang panjang dan usaha tanpa henti.

6. Adakah kita telah belajar? Kemalangan kecil dan besar berlaku saban hari dalam pelbagai industri. Sama ada sebuah syarikat ternama di dunia mahu pun sebuah syarikat haram di pelusuk hutan belantara. Namun, adakah kita semua telah belajar daripada semua kes kemalangan tersebut?

7. Jawabnya adalah, tidak. Kita tidak belajar dan kita sering lupa disebabkan oleh sifat kita yang leka. Masih ada juga yang belum memahami sepenuhnya pembelajaran dari kes - kes yang pernah berlaku sebelum ini.

8. Usaha berterusan tanpa henti adalah sebuah perjalanan bagi mencapai tahap keselamatan tinggi di tempat kerja. Semua pihak perlu memainkan peranan penting dalam mencapai niat yang murni ini. Setiap hari kita dambakan iklan - iklan di media masa dan juga sosial penuh dengan iklan keselamatan yang mampu mendidik semua tentang isu - isu keselamatan. Kesedaran perlu dipupuk dan usaha gigih perlu dilakukan demi mencapai matlamat sifar kemalangan dan sifar kecederaan.

9. Ingatlah, Rasulullah SAW pernah bersabda, jika kita memgalihkan satu duri di jalanan pun dapat pahala, bayangkan jika kita hilangkan satu risiko yang boleh meragut satu nyawa.

Keselamatan, satu perjalanan.

Safety leadership

Safety leadership is the ability to influence others to prioritize safety and act in a safe manner. It involves demonstrating a commitment to safety through actions and decisions. 

Responsibilities

Create and enforce policies: Develop and implement safety policies and procedures 

Conduct risk assessments: Identify potential hazards and assess the level of risk 

Ensure compliance: Make sure that everyone is following the safety rules and regulations 

Learn from incidents: Analyze the causes of incidents and use that information to improve safety

Denda RM50k tiada SOP - OSHA 1994

http://www.astroawani.com/berita-malaysia/petronas-carigali-sdn-bhd-didenda-164096

Perbezaan OSHA vs FMA

Safety Signage

EFFECTIVE TRAINING

The Heart of Steam & ICE Engineer

The Heart of Plant Engineer and Plant Operator

“As for keeping an eye on the plant, that phrase is nothing more than a saying. If you are a manager, reading this book because operators report to you, you should know this the experienced operator keeps an ear on the plant. 

The most accurate, precise, sensitive instrument in a boiler plant is the operator’s ear. The operator knows something is amiss long before any alarm goes off because he can hear any subtle change in the sound of the plant. 

He can be up in the fidley, and notice that a pump on the plant’s lower level just shut down. Hearing isn’t the only sense that’s more acute in an operator, he “feels” the plant as well. Sounds, actually all sound is vibrations, that aren’t in the normal range of hearing are sensed either by the ear, the cheek, or through the feet. 

Certainly an operator shouldn’t be in- side a boiler turbining tubes, while he’s operating the plant but there are many maintenance activities he can perform while on duty. 

Managers with a sense of the skill of their operators will use them on overtime and off-shift to perform most of the regular maintenance.”

Ken Heselton in his book “Boiler Operator’s Handbook”

Berfikir Seperti Jurutera / Think Like An Engineer

Berfikir seperti seorang jurutera (saintis)

“Observing everything in nature helps you under- stand what’s going on in the boiler plant. 

Most of our engineering is based on learning about what happens naturally then using it to accomplish purposes like making steam. 

The formation of clouds, fog, and dew all conform to rules set up by nature. By observing them we learn cause and effect and can make it work for us. 

We can be just like Newton, sitting under the apple tree and being convinced, by an apple dropping, that there’s such a thing as gravity and we can use it to do some work for us. 

You can see how it works, then relate it to what’s happening in the boiler plant.”

Boiler Operator’s Handbook, Ken Heselton 

Tiga Orang Mati Di Dalam Kernel Bunker Kilang Sawit Part II

1. Ini adalah kisah benar yang berlaku pada tahun 2009. Ia salah satu punca yang menyebabkan JKKP mengambil tindakan drastik untuk menguatkuasakan peraturan ruang terkurung di seluruh negara.
2. Lokasi kejadian dan syarikat terlibat, biarlah ia menjadi rahsia, namun ia patut menjadi pengajaran kepada kita yang masih berada dalam industri.
3. Kilang ini saya jaga dari tahun 2006 hingga 2008. Sebelum saya berpindah ke syarikat lain. 
4. Dua mangsa saya kenali kerana pernah bekerja dengan saya semasa tempoh tersebut.
5. Ok. Kita pendekkan cerita kerana ceritanya sangatlah panjang,
6. Sebelum kejadian :-
• Refnery buat aduan dirt palm kernel tinggi dari Kernel Bunker No. 5.
• Pengurus berikan arahan supaya sampling dibuat untuk palm kernel bunker No. 5.
• Lab boy yang baru bekerja kurang 3 bulan mengambil sample. (Mangsa Pertama)
7. Dari kanan gambar : Kernel Bunker No. 1,2,3,4,5 & 6. Lokasi kejadian (Kernel Bunker No. 5). Kernel Bunker No. 1-3 dibina awal tahun 1990an dan Kernel Bunker No. 4-6 dibina pada tahun 2004-2005.
8. Semasa kejadian
1. Lab boy tersebut masuk ke kernel bunker dari manhole atas dan mengambil sampel. Pengsan di dalam bunker akibat terhidu gas.
2. Mandore (mangsa kedua) masuk ke dalam bunker untuk menyelamatkan mangsa tanpa menggunakan sebarang peralatan dan juga prosedur keselamatan.
3. Lab Assistant (mangsa ketiga) cuba masuk ke dalam bunker pada waktu yang sama, namun berjaya di bawa naik ke atas. Mangsa meninggal semasa dalam perjalanan ke hospital.
9. Selepas kejadian
1. Tiga orang meninggal.
10. Punca kemalangan
1. Arahan tidak jelas. Tidak specifik lokasi untuk sampling. Untuk melakukan sampling, tidak perlu masuk ke dalam kernel bunker. Lokasi lebih selamat adalah menggunakan discharge point. Buang ke lantai dan buat ujian. Lebih selamat.
2. Rekabentuk (design) gagal. Bahagian atas kernel bunker tidak perlu dipasang dinding. Cukup dengan menggunakan handrailing. Rekabentuk menggunakan dinding seperti Kernel Bunker No. 4,5&6 telah menyebabkan tidak ada pengudaraan yang mencukupi bagi mengeluarkan gas berbahaya daripada air vent di atas bunker. Ia perlu ditukarkan segera. SAYA BERHARAP, SYARIKAT TELAH MELAKUKAN UBAHSUAI untuk mengelak kejadiaan yang sama berulang pada masa hadapan.
3. Tidak melakukan prosedur RUANG TERKURUNG.
4. Tiada pengentahuan tentang bahaya ruang terkurung.
5. Tiada SOP untuk sampling.
6. Pekerja tidak kompeten.
7. Latihan untuk pekerja baru tidak mencukupi.
11. Tindakan penambahbaikan
1. Ubahsuai kernel bunker. Buang dinding. Guna handrailing.
2. Kernel bunker seperti di bawah adalah lebih baik. Bahagian tepi ada lubang untuk aliran udara (lubang tak nampak). Walaupun ada dinding hingga ke atap, ruang atas bunker terbuka dan ada lubang bahagian tepi. Berlaku pengudaraan yang baik.

     

    

Tujuan utama saya kongsi adalah untuk memastikan tempat kerja kita semua tiada risiko bahaya kepada semua pihak. AMBIL PENGAJARAN daripada punca kejadian dan buatlah penambahbaikan segera.

BUDAYA KERJA SELAMAT AMALAN KITA.

Tiga Maut Di Dalam Kernel Bunker Part I

Safety Posters Awareness