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These events are sobering, and the hard truth is that process safety incidents rarely come from a single failure. They come from small drifts that were tolerated because nothing went wrong the last time. A facility can hold a clean management system on paper and still lose the process safety discipline that actually prevents an explosion, because the system tracks lagging indicators like injury rates while the real warning signs sit in near misses, overdue inspections, deferred maintenance and quiet changes to operating limits.

What I keep coming back to as an auditor is that the audit should follow those leading signals, not just confirm the paperwork exists. Ask what changed recently, what alarms are being bypassed, what maintenance has slipped, and whether the lessons from the last incident actually reached the people at the valve. When I train auditors I push them hard on this, because a barrier that looks fine in a document can be degraded in the field, and that gap is where these tragedies keep finding room.

Dilawar,

My background is in the United States as an implementor of EHS Management Systems for Anheuser-Busch and the 12 U.S. Breweries in the 1990s which used ammonia refrigeration for the cooling of the cellars.  It was during this period that the government started addressing this issue of the release of highly hazardous chemicals from both an environmental and health and safety standpoint.  The government issued regulations that came out during that period regarding those chemicals.  In 2000, I retired from Anheuser-Busch and formed my own company consulting and auditing management systems.  I also became a member of the ANAB Accreditation Council for 20 years and an Adjunct Professor in an Environmental MBA Program for four years teaching all the EMS Classes.  I was an auditor for DQS CB for 9 years in a group of 55 auditors conducting ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 50001, and RC14001, and was certified to all of those management systems with the exception of ISO 50001.  I also managed this group of auditors, late in my career.  I feel that the regulations, the management systems above to include RC 14001, and the 2015 Standard revisions went a long way to address this issue of highly hazardous chemical releases. 

Since 2022 when I fully retired at 80 years old, I began writing a book on ISO Management Systems which should be published in late 2027.

I would be happy to talk about this subject in greater depth, just let me know.

These events are sobering, and the hard truth is that process safety incidents rarely come from a single failure. They come from small drifts that were tolerated because nothing went wrong the last time. A facility can hold a clean management system on paper and still lose the process safety discipline that actually prevents an explosion, because the system tracks lagging indicators like injury rates while the real warning signs sit in near misses, overdue inspections, deferred maintenance and quiet changes to operating limits.

What I keep coming back to as an auditor is that the audit should follow those leading signals, not just confirm the paperwork exists. Ask what changed recently, what alarms are being bypassed, what maintenance has slipped, and whether the lessons from the last incident actually reached the people at the valve. When I train auditors I push them hard on this, because a barrier that looks fine in a document can be degraded in the field, and that gap is where these tragedies keep finding room.

Chris, that is a remarkable career, and the ammonia refrigeration work across those breweries sits right at the heart of what process safety was wrestling with in that era. You lived through the exact shift from reactive regulation to real management system thinking that so many sites are still catching up on today. I would genuinely enjoy that conversation, and congratulations on the book, late 2027 gives the profession something to look forward to.

Dilawar,

My background is in the United States as an implementor of EHS Management Systems for Anheuser-Busch and the 12 U.S. Breweries in the 1990s which used ammonia refrigeration for the cooling of the cellars.  It was during this period that the government started addressing this issue of the release of highly hazardous chemicals from both an environmental and health and safety standpoint.  The government issued regulations that came out during that period regarding those chemicals.  In 2000, I retired from Anheuser-Busch and formed my own company consulting and auditing management systems.  I also became a member of the ANAB Accreditation Council for 20 years and an Adjunct Professor in an Environmental MBA Program for four years teaching all the EMS Classes.  I was an auditor for DQS CB for 9 years in a group of 55 auditors conducting ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 50001, and RC14001, and was certified to all of those management systems with the exception of ISO 50001.  I also managed this group of auditors, late in my career.  I feel that the regulations, the management systems above to include RC 14001, and the 2015 Standard revisions went a long way to address this issue of highly hazardous chemical releases. 

Since 2022 when I fully retired at 80 years old, I began writing a book on ISO Management Systems which should be published in late 2027.

I would be happy to talk about this subject in greater depth, just let me know.

Chris, that is a remarkable career, and the ammonia refrigeration work across those breweries sits right at the heart of what process safety was wrestling with in that era. You lived through the exact shift from reactive regulation to real management system thinking that so many sites are still catching up on today. I would genuinely enjoy that conversation, and congratulations on the book, late 2027 gives the profession something to look forward to.

Dilawar,

My background is in the United States as an implementor of EHS Management Systems for Anheuser-Busch and the 12 U.S. Breweries in the 1990s which used ammonia refrigeration for the cooling of the cellars.  It was during this period that the government started addressing this issue of the release of highly hazardous chemicals from both an environmental and health and safety standpoint.  The government issued regulations that came out during that period regarding those chemicals.  In 2000, I retired from Anheuser-Busch and formed my own company consulting and auditing management systems.  I also became a member of the ANAB Accreditation Council for 20 years and an Adjunct Professor in an Environmental MBA Program for four years teaching all the EMS Classes.  I was an auditor for DQS CB for 9 years in a group of 55 auditors conducting ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 50001, and RC14001, and was certified to all of those management systems with the exception of ISO 50001.  I also managed this group of auditors, late in my career.  I feel that the regulations, the management systems above to include RC 14001, and the 2015 Standard revisions went a long way to address this issue of highly hazardous chemical releases. 

Since 2022 when I fully retired at 80 years old, I began writing a book on ISO Management Systems which should be published in late 2027.

I would be happy to talk about this subject in greater depth, just let me know.

Chris, the part that stands out to me is that the shift came from putting the real consequence distances in front of the community rather than managing the message. That is still the sharpest test I use on site, because if the people running the plant cannot tell me the worst credible release and which barriers stop it, the process safety file is documentation rather than control.

Thanks for writing this one up. It is a piece of history a lot of us only know second hand.

Chris, that is a remarkable career, and the ammonia refrigeration work across those breweries sits right at the heart of what process safety was wrestling with in that era. You lived through the exact shift from reactive regulation to real management system thinking that so many sites are still catching up on today. I would genuinely enjoy that conversation, and congratulations on the book, late 2027 gives the profession something to look forward to.

Dilawar,

My background is in the United States as an implementor of EHS Management Systems for Anheuser-Busch and the 12 U.S. Breweries in the 1990s which used ammonia refrigeration for the cooling of the cellars.  It was during this period that the government started addressing this issue of the release of highly hazardous chemicals from both an environmental and health and safety standpoint.  The government issued regulations that came out during that period regarding those chemicals.  In 2000, I retired from Anheuser-Busch and formed my own company consulting and auditing management systems.  I also became a member of the ANAB Accreditation Council for 20 years and an Adjunct Professor in an Environmental MBA Program for four years teaching all the EMS Classes.  I was an auditor for DQS CB for 9 years in a group of 55 auditors conducting ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 50001, and RC14001, and was certified to all of those management systems with the exception of ISO 50001.  I also managed this group of auditors, late in my career.  I feel that the regulations, the management systems above to include RC 14001, and the 2015 Standard revisions went a long way to address this issue of highly hazardous chemical releases. 

Since 2022 when I fully retired at 80 years old, I began writing a book on ISO Management Systems which should be published in late 2027.

I would be happy to talk about this subject in greater depth, just let me know.

Chris, the part that stands out to me is that the shift came from putting the real consequence distances in front of the community rather than managing the message. That is still the sharpest test I use on site, because if the people running the plant cannot tell me the worst credible release and which barriers stop it, the process safety file is documentation rather than control.

Thanks for writing this one up. It is a piece of history a lot of us only know second hand.

Chris, that is a remarkable career, and the ammonia refrigeration work across those breweries sits right at the heart of what process safety was wrestling with in that era. You lived through the exact shift from reactive regulation to real management system thinking that so many sites are still catching up on today. I would genuinely enjoy that conversation, and congratulations on the book, late 2027 gives the profession something to look forward to.

Dilawar,

My background is in the United States as an implementor of EHS Management Systems for Anheuser-Busch and the 12 U.S. Breweries in the 1990s which used ammonia refrigeration for the cooling of the cellars.  It was during this period that the government started addressing this issue of the release of highly hazardous chemicals from both an environmental and health and safety standpoint.  The government issued regulations that came out during that period regarding those chemicals.  In 2000, I retired from Anheuser-Busch and formed my own company consulting and auditing management systems.  I also became a member of the ANAB Accreditation Council for 20 years and an Adjunct Professor in an Environmental MBA Program for four years teaching all the EMS Classes.  I was an auditor for DQS CB for 9 years in a group of 55 auditors conducting ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 50001, and RC14001, and was certified to all of those management systems with the exception of ISO 50001.  I also managed this group of auditors, late in my career.  I feel that the regulations, the management systems above to include RC 14001, and the 2015 Standard revisions went a long way to address this issue of highly hazardous chemical releases. 

Since 2022 when I fully retired at 80 years old, I began writing a book on ISO Management Systems which should be published in late 2027.

I would be happy to talk about this subject in greater depth, just let me know.