Page 215 - Boiler_Operators_Handbook,_Second_Edition

200 Boiler Operator’s Handbook

were used and a few of them were on my projects where, ple were injured (including me) and others were killed
despite the drawings specifically listing the requirements, because we didn’t have those regulations. Follow them
the steamfitters used the wrong bolts or nuts. religiously, they are there to protect you and keep you
I’m very grateful none of those incidents had a re- alive. Second, it is the operator’s responsibility to ensure
sult like using the wrong nuts on the Iwo Jima, a Navy all those regulations are followed and, more importantly,
aircraft carrier, in October of 1990 when ten people were to be the person in charge of lock-out, tag-out.
killed because a valve bonnet blew off in a confined en- Don’t be too quick to allow that responsibility
5
gine room. A valve’s bonnet is that portion of the valve to reside in someone else, you’ll regret it the day the
that’s removable without dismantling the attached pip- contractor’s crew closes and locks out the wrong valve
ing to provide access to the valve’s internals. (like on the plant’s only water line) then go out to lunch!
Something that sounds good or looks right isn’t the You’re also the only one in the plant I would count on to
answer. If you don’t understand a specification or can’t know every valve that has to be closed to ensure a sys-
determine whether the material you have complies with tem or vessel is really isolated. Another problem is that
it you should consult someone to ensure you have the the owner of a plant is responsible for the safety of the
right material. contractors because any hazard in the plant involves the
Don’t take the salesman’s word for it because he property of the owner. If the boss says “let the contractor
can deny telling you after the catastrophe occurs so do it” you might point out to him that the contractor can
you end up holding the bag. Sometimes the mistake is do it wrong, sue the owner when someone’s injured, and
immediately evident. I can still remember the look on the contractor will win!
a contractor’s face when they started filling a piping The regulations for lock-out, tag-out are in OSHA
system that took over a week for five men to install and 29CFR part 1910. They are still changing and evolving
water was spurting from the longitudinal seam of every so I don’t intend to address them all here. You should
piece of pipe. Nobody checked the material, it was all obtain a copy of that document and be aware of updates.
“untested” pipe; manufactured for structural use. You’ll have it to review every time you have to prepare
Sometimes you find out later, that’s almost always a system for maintenance. Right now there are many
the case when the material isn’t capable of withstand- methods for satisfying the requirements but one simple
ing corrosive action of the liquids it contains. I can still program shown to me by Ken Donithan of Total Boiler
remember the condition of a mild steel thermometer Control seems to be a really clean and simple approach
well we had knowingly installed in a stainless steel that satisfies the requirements with a minimum of pa-
piping system because the owner wanted the system perwork and a great degree of understanding. It’s dem-
running and we didn’t have time to get a replacement onstrated in Figure 6-2 which was prepared for work on
well. We got to replace the well with one of the right a steam boiler.
material a week later and discovered there wasn’t much A diagram or schematic of the system is prepared
left of that mild steel. Had the plant run for a few more and laminated with plastic to serve as the key element
days the well would have corroded away, the thermom-
eter would have blown out and highly corrosive liquid
would have been spraying into the plant.
There’s one other thing about materials that needs
to be addressed. You may find that a modern material
does a better job, something like graphite gaskets for
cast iron boilers instead of rubber ones. Refer to the sec-
tion on replacements that follows.

LOCK-OUT, TAG-OUT

First of all I want to say that I’m not one of those
people that gripes about all the hassle associated with
lock-out and tag-out regulations and requirements. I op-
erated in the times before those regulations and have very
vivid and unsettling recollections of incidents where peo- Figure 6-2. Lock-out/tag-out diagram