Safe Welding

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SAFE WELDING What Can We Learn From the Beirut Explosion? By Craig Ellis Welding, cutting and brazing activities can be performed safely if the appropriate safety procedures and protocols are followed. Hazardous materials (e.g., flammable liquids and materials/chemicals) must be safely stored and kept away from potential ignition sources.

Several months ago in Beirut, Lebanon, compose on its own. This process creates but without the proper precautions, safe- a massive explosion occurred believed to be gases including nitrogen oxides and water guards and procedures for welding oper- due to improper welding procedures and vapor. It is this rapid release of gases that ations and hazardous materials’ storage, improper storage of hazardous materials. causes an explosion (da Silva, 2020). simple maintenance tasks could result in unwanted losses. What Happened? Cause of the Beirut Explosion In response to this incident, consider the On the afternoon of Aug. 4, 2020, two Although the investigation is ongoing, following about your facility or operation: explosions occurred at the port of Beirut, government officials initially believed that •Do you have designated welding areas the capital of Lebanon. The second explo- welding in the port district inadvertently where welding can be safely performed? sion was extremely powerful, and caused sparked fireworks that were stored near the Designated welding areas are typically at least 190 deaths, 6,500 injuries, U.S. $10 welding operation, which, in turn, set off a permanent locations in your facility or to $15 billion in property damage and left massive cache of ammonium nitrate that operation designed for welding activities an estimated 300,000 people homeless. The had been stored for years in warehouse 12. that produce open flame, sparks or heat. event was linked to approximately 2,750 Workers were welding a door at ware- •Do you have a hot-work permit pro- tons of ammonium nitrate, which had been house 12 as part of maintenance activities. gram that allows welding to be safely confiscated by the Lebanese government A former port worker said, “There were 30 performed at various locations at your from the abandoned ship MV Rhosus, then to 40 nylon bags of fireworks inside ware- facility or operation away from designat- stored in a warehouse without proper safety house 12” (2020 Beirut Explosion, 2020). ed welding areas? Good hot-work permit measures for 6 years. The explosion was Based on statements from government programs establish written procedures preceded by a fire in the same warehouse, officials, it is believed that welding sparks to prevent fires resulting from temporary but as of November 2020, the exact cause of ignited the nearby bags of fireworks operations from welding activities that the detonation is still under investigation (the first explosion), which subsequently produce open flame, sparks or heat. (2020 Beirut Explosion, 2020). caused the ammonium nitrate to explode •As part of your hot-work program for Apart from the human and financial (the second explosion). welding activities, do you have trained fire toll, the blast also destroyed the silo hold- watchers who are in place at least 30 minutes ing 85% of the nation’s grain (Itani, 2020). Other Ammonium Nitrate Explosions after the welding operations are complete? Ammonium nitrate decomposition can Trained fire watchers must be able to detect What Is Ammonium Nitrate? be set off if an explosion occurs where it is and extinguish possible smoldering fires. Ammonium nitrate is a crystal-like stored or if there is an intense fire nearby. •Have workers received the appropri- white solid commonly used as a source of The latter is what happened in the 2015 ate training on welding safety? Workers nitrogen for agricultural fertilizer. It can Tianjin explosion, which killed 173 people should understand the dangers associ- also be combined with fuel oils to create after flammable chemicals and ammoni- ated with welding, cutting and brazing an explosive used in the mining and con- um nitrate were stored together at a chem- such as high temperatures, and fire and struction industries (BBC News, 2020). ical factory in eastern China (Itani, 2020). explosion potentials. Ammonium nitrate has the chemical In 1947, a ship carrying 2,000 tons of the •Does your facility or operation have a formula NH4NO3 and is typically pro- chemical exploded in the port of Texas City, strong hazardous materials program that duced as small porous pellets. Ammo- TX, killing 581 people. A mid-morning ensures the safe and compatible storage of nium nitrate does not burn on its own. fire started on board the French-registered chemicals and other substances? Strong Instead, it acts as a source of oxygen that vessel SS Grandcamp, docked in the port, hazardous materials program manage- can accelerate the combustion (burning) and detonated its cargo of about 2,300 tons ment ensures that the physical and health of other materials (da Silva, 2020). (about 2,100 metric tons) of ammonium hazards associated with these substances Ammonium nitrate is relatively safe nitrate. This started a chain reaction of fires are effectively managed and mitigated. when stored properly. However, if there and explosions in other ships and nearby Consistent implementation and prac- is a large amount of material stored for a oil-storage facilities, ultimately killing at tice of the preceding elements will also long time, it begins to decay. Over time, least 581 people. The cause of the initial produce a safer work environment for ammonium nitrate will absorb little bits fire on the SS Grandcamp was never deter- your facility or operation. of moisture and eventually turn into mined (Texas City Disaster, 2020). a rock. This makes it more dangerous OSHA & NFPA Standards because if a fire reaches it, the chemical What Can Employers Do to There are regulatory and consensus reaction will be much more intense. Prevent a Similar Incident? standards that address proper safety At high enough temperatures, however, Your facility or operation may not have practices for welding, cutting and braz- ammonium nitrate can also violently de- tons of hazardous materials in storage, ing and for proper hazardous materials

18 PSJ PROFESSIONAL SAFETY JANUARY 2021 assp.org management. Following these regulatory financial toll on the city of Beirut and and consensus standards can prevent the nation of Lebanon. If those welding similar incidents. operations on Aug. 4, 2020, had been Welding, cutting and brazing are ad- performed with the proper safety proce- dressed in specific OSHA standards for dures and protocols along with appro- The Beirut explosion caused at least 190 general industry, shipyard employment, priate storage of hazardous materials, deaths, 6,500 injuries and left an estimated marine terminals and construction. that catastrophe may have been avoided. 300,000 people homeless. These standards provide provisions and Remember, welding operations can be years? New York Times. www.nytimes.com/ protocols for performing welding, cut- safely performed, and hazardous materi- 2020/08/05/opinion/beirut-explosions.html ting and brazing safely near combusti- als can be safely stored if the proper pro- OSHA. (n.d.). Welding, cutting and brazing. ble materials. tocols and procedures are in place. PSJ www.osha.gov/SLTC/weldingcuttingbrazing/ Flammable liquids and materials stor- index.html age are addressed in OSHA standards References National Fire Protection Assocation for general industry in the hazardous BBC News. (2020, Aug. 11). Beirut explo- (NFPA). (2019). Hazardous materials code materials subpart. Additionally, National sion: What we know so far. www.bbc.com/ (NFPA 400). news/world-middle-east-53668493 2020 Beirut Explosion. (Nov. 29, 2020). In Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 400 Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index provides fundamental safeguards for the da Silva, G. (2020, Aug. 5). What is ammonium nitrate, the chemical that exploded in Bei- .php?title=2020_Beirut_explosion&direction storage, use and handling of hazardous rut? Scientific American. www.scientificamer =prev&oldid=992341045 materials in all occupancies and facilities. ican.com/article/what-is-ammonium-nitrate Texas City Disaster. (Sept. 29, 2020). In -the-chemical-that-exploded-in-beirut Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index Conclusion Itani, F. (2020, Aug. 5). Why did Lebanon .php?title=Texas_City_disaster&direction The devastation of the Beirut explo- let a bomb-in-waiting sit in a warehouse for 6 =prev&oldid=992920161 sion caused an enormous human and Craig Ellis, P.E., CSP, is owner and principal of Giarc Consulting, and has more than 40 years of professional technical and safety consulting experience. He holds an M.B.A. from Regis University and This article was originally published by Giarc a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Tennessee Technological University. Ellis is a professional member of Consulting LLC (www.giarcconsulting.com). ASSP’s North Carolina Chapter, and a member of the Society’s Blacks in Safety Excellence Common

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