News item: Clorox to stop using chlorine to make bleach

Okay, time out.

So Clorox is going to stop using chlorine gas which is transported by rail—the safest form of transportation—in double-walled, insulated tanker cars with reinforced ends and all of the valves and gateways guarded. (Thank you FEMA AW 147 rail car incident class that I took two weeks ago!!)

Greenpeace applauds, the news release says, but that questioning voice you hear above the clapping is mine.

Let’s all put on our properly fit-tested SCBAs so we’re not overcome by the green cloud and consider what this means.

Now Clorox will be transporting bulk quantities of liquid sodium hypochlorite, which can be shipped in a “general service” single-wall rail tank car with no reinforced ends and no protection on the valves and gateways.

In the event of a derailment, guess which of these two types of rail car is more likely to breech???

With chlorine gas, you can evacuate the area and let the cloud dissipate. With a sodium hypochlorite spill, you’ll be digging up soil for months—and guess what:  That soil’s offgassing the pollutants the entire time. 

And guess what else—just because Clorox is going to stop using chlorine doesn’t necessarily translate to less chlorine on the rails or on the road.  

Guess how you make sodium hypochlorite: You react dilute a caustic soda solution with liquid or gaseous chlorine.   So chlorine is still going to be transported.  Most likely by rail.

This is a good thing??  What am I missing?

Yes, it will be safer for Clorox employees— and kudos to Clorox for that—but I just don’t see the environmental triumph. 

Image © Beth Van Trees – Fotolia.com

Quite a few Piggers were in on an email conversation last week regarding static-dissipative absorbent mats. I was asked to post some of my information from that.

A little background: Static-dissipative absorbents help reduce the risk of electrostatic discharge. This increases worker safety in fueling area cleanups and applications near flammable vapors. Static-dissipative mats are specially treated to meet NFPA 99 standards for static decay, which basically means that static charge is safely dissipated within half a second.

The material in our PIG® Stat-Mat® Absorbent Mats performs better than others we’ve tested. A particular competitor’s mat barely passes the .5 second static-dissipation cut-off, while ours does it in 0.01 seconds and has done so consistently for years. Another competitor’s mat isn’t bad, in a range between .25 and .35 seconds, but that’s still not close to our .01 seconds.

The big difference is in how the static-dissipative treatment is applied. We use a topical application while some folks out there use a polymer blend. Counter-intuitively, the topical application is better. The polymer blended material tends to “bloom off” the anti-static agent, as the agent isn’t compatible with the polymer, in as little as 6-12 months.

On the other hand, the topical solution doesn’t bloom off or lose effectiveness. We’ve taken mat from a seven-year-old PIG® Oil-Only Spill Kit at a local marina and sent it out for testing. The results came back like brand-new material.

This useful article on choosing reusable respirators highlights getting employee input

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Inspect any light poles at your site that came from Whitco Co. LP (now out of business). They may not be safe.

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Missouri lawmakers banned floating polypropylene but meant polystyrene.

Ever wonder if one of the overhead compartments on your plane contained 20 pounds of toxic metal?

Me either.

But I may ponder that on my next flight, now that I’ve heard about the guy with mercury in his suitcase.

Maybe I’ll start packing a Mercury Spill Kit in my own carry-on …

Image © Cerae – Fotolia.com

Related posts:

Mercury spill and pilfering wreaks havoc at high school

I’m just about done updating the New Pig safety manual, but now I’m going to flip back through it to see if it addresses how to properly assault a vending machine.

A man in Illinois recently fractured his hip on the job while ramming a vending machine to dislodge a bag of chips for a coworker. He was judged eligible for workers’ comp because he wasn’t on break, he was coming to the aid of another worker (Illinois law recognizes “Good Samaritan” cases) and the employer knew the machine was faulty (a “reasonably foreseeable” situation in Illinois).

Good Samaritan? Yes. Safe worker? No.

Image © Stephen Finn – Fotolia.com

Here’s a worthwhile page from OSHA aimed at the cleaning industry, including both front-line workers in cleaning and maintenance and suppliers of cleaning products and services.

It includes links to info on health and safety standards, common hazards and related solutions, implementing a health and safety program and more.

Image © Roman Milert – Fotolia.com

Let’s “paws” for a quick reminder that aside from the occasional birthday cake, there is no place for candles in most workplaces. Churches, restaurants, yes. Your workplace? Think about the hazard that you’re introducing.

Happy 65th Birthday, Smokey Bear! Hope you have no plans to retire! Who else would keep the real time wildfire map up to date?

Take a simple but vital lesson from a story that I just read. I’ll accept it as true because the writer says he saw photographs related to it.

A police officer is chasing an armed robber. The thief pitches his gun. The cop’s shoestring comes loose. He trips on it, hits his head and is knocked out. The criminal circles back, takes the officer’s gun and kills him.

It’s a tragic tale with a common-sense reminder for workers: No shoes, slip-resistant or not, protect against falls if a shoelace is flapping loose. Knot them good.

Image © Lisa F. Young – Fotolia.com

Here’s the list. Bravo.

Related post:

How to feel if a loved one’s death or injury follows shoddy safety training

UCLA has a plan for improving lab safety about 7 months after a deadly accident served as a wake-up call and prompted attention including our post.

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SkillTV is offering prizes for the best photos of kids coming in contact with maintenance.

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How toast is manufactured.