Combustible Dust Testing

Laboratory testing to quantify dust explosion and reactivity hazards

Safety Data Sheets

Develop critical safety data for inclusion in SDS documents

Gas and Vapor

Laboratory testing to quantify explosion hazards for vapor and gas mixtures

UN-DOT
Classification of hazardous materials subject to shipping and storage regulations
Hydrogen
Testing and consulting on the explosion risks associated with devices and processes which use or produce hydrogen
Safety Data Sheets

Develop critical safety data for inclusion in SDS documents

Thermal Stability

Safe storage or processing requires an understanding of the possible hazards associated with sensitivity to variations in temperature

Adiabatic Calorimetry
Data demonstrate the consequences of process upsets, such as failed equipment or improper procedures, and guide mitigation strategies including Emergency Relief System (ERS) design
Reaction Calorimetry
Data yield heat and gas removal requirements to control the desired process chemistry
Battery Safety

Testing to support safe design of batteries and electrical power backup facilities particularly to satisfy UL9540a ed.4

Safety Data Sheets

Develop critical safety data for inclusion in SDS documents

Cable Testing
Evaluate electrical cables to demonstrate reliability and identify defects or degradation
Equipment Qualification (EQ)
Testing and analysis to ensure that critical equipment will operate under adverse environmental conditions
Water Hammer
Analysis and testing to identify and prevent unwanted hydraulic pressure transients in process piping
Acoustic Vibration
Identify and eliminate potential sources of unwanted vibration in piping and structural systems
Gas & Air Intrusion
Analysis and testing to identify and prevent intrusion of gas or air in piping systems
ISO/IEC 17025:2017

Fauske & Associates fulfills the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025:2017 in the field of Testing

ISO 9001:2015
Fauske & Associates fulfills the requirements of ISO 9001:2015
Dust Hazards Analysis
Evaluate your process to identify combustible dust hazards and perform dust explosion testing
On-Site Risk Management
On-site safety studies can help identify explosibility and chemical reaction hazards so that appropriate testing, simulations, or calculations are identified to support safe scale up
DIERS Methodology
Design emergency pressure relief systems to mitigate the consequences of unwanted chemical reactivity and account for two-phase flow using the right tools and methods
Deflagrations (Dust/Vapor/Gas)

Properly size pressure relief vents to protect your processes from dust, vapor, and gas explosions

Effluent Handling

Pressure relief sizing is just the first step and it is critical to safely handle the effluent discharge from an overpressure event

FATE™ & Facility Modeling

FATE (Facility Flow, Aerosol, Thermal, and Explosion) is a flexible, fast-running code developed and maintained by Fauske and Associates under an ASME NQA-1 compliant QA program.

Mechanical, Piping, and Electrical
Engineering and testing to support safe plant operations and develop solutions to problems in heat transfer, fluid, flow, and electric power systems
Hydrogen Safety
Testing and consulting on the explosion risks associated with devices and processes which use or produce hydrogen
Thermal Hydraulics
Testing and analysis to ensure that critical equipment will operate under adverse environmental conditions
Nuclear Safety
Our Nuclear Services Group is recognized for comprehensive evaluations to help commercial nuclear power plants operate efficiently and stay compliant
Radioactive Waste
Safety analysis to underpin decomissioning process at facilities which have produced or used radioactive nuclear materials
Adiabatic Safety Calorimeters (ARSST and VSP2)

Low thermal inertial adiabatic calorimeters specially designed to provide directly scalable data that are critical to safe process design

Other Lab Equipment and Parts for the DSC/ARC/ARSST/VSP2 Calorimeters

Products and equipment for the process safety or process development laboratory

FERST

Software for emergency relief system design to ensure safe processing of reactive chemicals, including consideration of two-phase flow and runaway chemical reactions

FATE

Facility modeling software mechanistically tracks transport of heat, gasses, vapors, and aerosols for safety analysis of multi-room facilities

Blog

Our highly experienced team keeps you up-to-date on the latest process safety developments.

Process Safety Newsletter

Stay informed with our quarterly Process Safety Newsletters sharing topical articles and practical advice.

Resources

With over 40 years of industry expertise, we have a wealth of process safety knowledge to share.

Recent Posts

Pre-job Brief – A Smart Tool for Process Safety and More

Posted by Fauske & Associates on 09.22.15

I admit it. Since childhood, I have been a fan of the musical film The Sound of Music starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.  As a student of voice from a young age, a song from the musical that I particularly liked was Do-Re-Mi which was used to teach the Von Trapp children how to sing. It begins with the lyrics "Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start."  If you think about it, these are wise words to consider when jumping into any activity in life.  re-job lanning for safe Work

In our labs, we work on many very detailed projects.  As our business grows, we are finding that many of those projects require the expertise       of several different people and departments across the company.   One way we ensure that these projects run as smoothly and as risk free as possible is by utilizing pre-job briefs. Although these are typically held as a final phase of job planning, a pre-job brief is really the beginning of the actual project's work. And, no matter how much planning is put into a project, the proper communication of the plans moving into the execution phase is critical to its success.  Moreover, as a company that specializes in process safety as it relates to severe accidents in industry, ensuring that the job is performed without risk to our employees or our customers is especially important. We emphasize working safe as a priority and delivering a quality product as standard, and take the same approach that we recommend to our clients towards safe operations internally. 

The Human Performance Handbook issued by our parent company, Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC provides this definition of the term: “A pre-job brief is a planned interactive discussion that occurs  just prior to a job, task or prospect and involves all related personnel/team members/stakeholders.” 

Although it became common practice as a nuclear industry Human Performance concept, it is really a common sense good business approach applicable to any type of job.  A briefing before a work begins helps keep a project on track from the get go. It not only helps ensure that that every person touching the project has a full understanding of the project and their role before work commences and is adequately qualified for the role assigned to them, it provides an opportunity to define the expectations of the work which improves efficiency and provides team members with awareness of the potential areas where things could go wrong in an effort to prevent their occurrence.

Some critical elements to include in a this meeting are:

  • Task purpose/scope
  • Procedural review
  • Roles and responsibilities of team members
  • Potential issues/ hazards, and the mitigation plan
  • Questions

It should be viewed as a knowledge sharing session to ensure everyone involved is on the same page. In his 2014 article Make Your Pre-job Briefing an Open Dialogue on Safety, David Jackson, Director of Corporate Safety, NAES Corp., suggests making a it a focused dialogue tailored to the task at hand versus a monologue. This cultivates “Intelligent, open conversation among team members.” Brilliant! This approach can also foster teamwork by engaging everyone in the process as well as providing an opportunity for them to share their knowledge where applicable.  Jackson also recommends closing the meeting by asking each team member to affirm their understanding of their responsibilities and their ability to complete the work as well as reminding them that if at any time they have a question, they should stop and ask. Again, a GREAT point because it really is better to ask a question than guess and risk putting themselves, their team members or the job itself in danger.

Although the risk of injury in my job as a writer is minimal – I mean I might get a paper cut, strain my eyes or break a nail, I still find that having some sort of discussion about the varied projects I work on detailing the expected outcome before work begins helps me start off in the right direction and work smarter in the process.  Hopefully, you can see the value of a pre-job brief in your own work, too.

If you are looking for direction to assure your company is following safe practices contact Zach Hachmeister at 630-887- 5223               

Subscribe to FAI's Quarterly "Process Safety News"

Subscribe to FAI's "Nuclear Technical Bulletins"

 

Topics: Process Safety, Nuclear

cta-bg.jpg

Is My Dust Combustible?

A Flowchart To Help You Decide
Download Now