CSB Issues Winterization Safety Warning – 12-9-24

Yesterday, the Chemical Safety Board issued their periodic reminder that cold weather brings with it a number of safety issues that need to be addressed. This year, the reminder focuses on the freeze protection suggestions provided in the API Recommended Practices 2001 document. CSB notes that an effective freeze protection program includes:

• Establishing formal written programs to find cold weather vulnerabilities,

• Providing technical, operations, and maintenance personnel education and training to help them understand and recognize potential program situations,

• Enabling these people working with field equipment to recognize potential freeze hazards and identify them for remediation,

• Educating technical and maintenance personnel through training to help them avoid inadvertently creating freeze hazards as they modify equipment, revise designs, or design new equipment,

• Systematically conducting a careful review of out-of-service piping or units to identify potential problems to rectify, and

• “Designing-out” dead-legs, including process bypass piping.

Earlier versions of this reminder included links to CSB’s “Preparing Equipment and Instrumentation for Cold Weather Operations” safety digest, and two CSB safety videos:

Fire from Ice 

Winterization Safety Message