Eight Major Chemical Industry Accident Cases: Chemical Hoisting Accidents

I think the poster can collect them by topic. For example, this post is dedicated to hoisting, and the next post is dedicated to collecting hot topics. I will help you change the title. You can post the remaining seven posts yourself.

Summary of petrochemical hoisting accidents Hoisting operations are a key link in the installation and construction activities of petrochemical equipment, especially the installation and construction operations of large-scale refining and chemical equipment. It has the characteristics of large equipment diameter, heavy body, multiple cross-operation coordination, and large amount of high-altitude operations. Whether the construction operations can be completed safely and efficiently is related to the market development and operation results of the enterprise; to the sustainable development of the enterprise; and determines the success or failure of project management. Due to the need for investment control, in recent years, the installation of refining and chemical plants has tended to reduce floor space and develop into more space. The workload and operating risks of hoisting operations have also increased, and safety management and control have become more difficult. Therefore, improving the safety construction management and control of hoisting equipment in refining and chemical engineering construction projects is one of the important tasks faced by current project management. 1. Common Accidents in Hoisting Operations As far as the construction and production of refining and chemical plants are concerned, no matter what the process is, the process equipment generally includes two types: dynamic equipment (such as machines and pump equipment) and static equipment (that is, process equipment such as containers and tower equipment). According to the needs of the process, some equipment is installed on the ground concrete foundation; some is installed on the high-altitude concrete frame foundation; and some is installed on the steel structure frame. The most difficult part in hoisting pump equipment and cold exchange equipment is unit equipment, such as compressors, air compressors, hoods and other large unit equipment, which are mostly arranged on large concrete foundations in factory buildings and are relatively difficult to hoist into place. However, pumps and cold exchange equipment are relatively easy due to the use of large cranes. Containers are generally divided into vertical containers and horizontal containers. Horizontal vessels are generally hoisted into place as a whole using a crane at one time; vertical vessels and tower equipment are mostly hoisted in sections, assembled and welded in the air, or assembled and welded on the ground, and hoisted as a whole at one time. The construction plan shall be determined according to the site conditions and construction period. For new projects, generally the site conditions are good, and the whole assembly is usually used for one-time hoisting (weight allowed). In some cases, due to weight or delayed arrival problems, machine tools or site restrictions, segmented hoisting is often used; for reconstruction projects, such as old tower renovation, due to the expansion of the tray spacing or changes in the process, the upper part needs to be replaced, and the upper part is often assembled and welded in the air. Equipment arriving in pieces requires high hoisting safety technology, and there are many "turning" operations in the transition section and head, which poses a certain degree of difficulty to the lifting operation. To sum up, common accidents in equipment hoisting operations generally include the following aspects: (1) The connection between the lifting lug and the tower wall is deformed, causing potential accident risks. When pipe-type lifting lugs are used for hoisting vertical containers, one end of the lifting lugs is directly welded to the tower wall, and a blind plate is used at the other end. If used improperly (mismatched), it will create hidden dangers of accidents in the hoisting operation. (2) Crane sling - accident caused by electric ignition of wire rope. This type of accident is the most common accident in hoisting operations. There are many cross-cutting operations at the construction site of refining and chemical engineering projects, which are generally complex. Especially the welding wires are crisscrossed and sometimes even exposed. When the main sling rope comes into contact with it, an electric spark occurs and the main sling rope breaks, causing an accident. (3) Improper vehicle support, causing accidents. This type of accident often occurs when the hoisted object is in the air. When the hoisted object is in the air, the crane tilts downward in a certain direction, causing the center of gravity to shift, causing an accident. (4) An unexpected "impact load" occurred during the "turning" operation, causing the accident. During the installation operation, due to the needs of the process or process, a certain section of the tower, container or other heavy objects should be turned 18° in the vertical direction to adjust the position up and down to facilitate the smooth progress of the next processes such as welding, internal parts installation, and lining. This process is most commonly used in the construction of reactors and regenerators of catalytic devices, and the tendency of frequent accidents is also prominent. It is the focus and difficulty of hoisting safety management and control. When the flipped object is in a hoisting state and flips to 9°, an "impact load" is suddenly generated in the flipping direction, causing the main sling to break and the hoisted object to fall. At the same time, the crane's boom rebounds backwards or even breaks and falls, which may also cause personal casualties. (5) Accidents caused by improper use of hoisting rigging. Such accidents often occur in coordinated intermediate hoisting operations. When technicians miscalculate the stress on the main hoisting rope, causing the operator to incorrectly use the rigging, main hoisting rope, etc., or the technicians have insufficient understanding of the potential energy release of the hoisted object in different hoisting states during the hoisting process, and the hoisting operation plan is imperfect. During the hoisting operation, the main hoisting wire rope breaks, causing an accident. (6) Accidents caused by improper command by the hoisting commander during the operation. Under modern equipment conditions, the matching level of man, machine, and environment is relatively high. When an incomplete plan is executed, the stress on the main hoisting rope will be displayed, and a yellow or red light will light up or an alarm will sound when the load is overloaded. At this time, if the on-site operation commander does not order timely measures and forcibly continues the operation, the main hoisting wire rope may break, causing a large accident. (7) The comprehensive inspection of large-scale hoisting equipment before hoisting is not detailed, and the hidden dangers cannot be eliminated in time, which may lead to accidents. 2. The severity of the consequences of hoisting accidents (1) Accidents are grouped. There is a big difference between hoisting operations and fixed operations in a small area with one person and one machine. Hoisting operations require the participation and coordination of many people. During the construction process of petrochemical projects, a large number of construction workers gather in the hoisting operation area. Once an accident occurs, many people are often involved. (2) The consequences of the accident are serious. Lifting accidents may not only cause personal injuries, but are often accompanied by damage to large-scale equipment and facilities. In particular, falling equipment and collapse and instability of metal structures often cause serious accidents. The larger the scope of hoisting operations and the higher the lifting tonnage, the more serious the consequences of the accident may be. (3) Concentration of accident types. Mechanical injury accidents are the main types of accidents in hoisting operations, such as falling heavy objects, crushing, object strikes, crane overturning accidents, etc. Additionally, electric shock or other injuries caused by the material may occur. The variety and concentration of the types of accidents that can occur on one piece of equipment is rare in any other machinery. 3. Analysis of Accident Causes Based on the comprehensive analysis of various accidents that occur in the practice of hoisting operations in petrochemical construction, using a system safety perspective, accidents can be attributed to accidents caused by dangerous factors such as unsafe behaviors of people and unsafe conditions of objects. The modern causal chain theory of accidents believes that unsafe behaviors of people and unsafe conditions of objects are caused by personal reasons and working conditions, and are the direct causes of accidents. The underlying root cause hidden behind unsafe behaviors of people and unsafe conditions of objects is management errors. It is worth noting that the two factors of people and things are causal to each other. For example, sometimes the unsafe state of things leads to unsafe behavior of people, and the unsafe behavior of people will promote the unsafe state of things. (1) Analysis of human unsafe behavior Human unsafe behavior is based on several aspects such as physiology, psychology, environment, and behavior. Human unsafe behavior is a kind of mistake, which may occur directly in the operation process of operators, leading to errors, or may occur in the work process of various managers, resulting in management errors. The main reasons for human behavioral errors are as follows: 1. Inadequate safety education and weak safety awareness. Safety education is not in place, personal knowledge and skills are deficient, and safety awareness is weak, leading to unserious work attitudes, negligence at work, insufficient work preparation, and incomplete safety technical measures, which lead to unsafe behaviors. Industrial safety theory believes that people's inappropriate behavior first comes from incorrect attitudes. For large-scale hoisting, a comprehensive inspection should be organized before hoisting, that is, the unsafe conditions of ground anchor points, running ropes, winches, rigging, etc. should be checked. Due to carelessness, many hidden dangers were not detected, resulting in accidents during the hoisting operation. Some hoisting commanders blindly commanded and relied on experience to force hoisting and cause accidents. Working conditions can induce errors, but unsafe conditions of objects can be eliminated through correct human behavior. The reason why accidents occur is due to "human error" and is also a manifestation of insufficient management control. Operators' weak safety awareness, failure to follow standard operations and management personnel's mistakes illustrate the shortcomings of safety education and training. 2. Insufficient knowledge and skills, and incomplete construction safety measures. The accidents caused by technicians' insufficient consideration of the operation process and unclear technical explanations were caused by "human errors" caused by managers, reflecting problems in the company's comprehensive management. In coordinated intermediate hoisting operations, such as "turning" operations, technicians often take into account the lifting, turning and ending states when formulating the operation plan. However, the "impact load" generated when the lifting state transitions to the turning state is not accurately calculated, and the occurrence of impact load movement is even ignored, which may lead to accidents. In addition, when lifting tower capacity equipment, if the difference between internal and external pressures during welding of lifting lugs is not taken into account, it will often cause tower wall deformation, posing hidden dangers of accidents. Therefore, if there is an operation plan, there must be a safety measure plan, and the measures must be appropriate and effective. Incomplete technical plans, careless plan reviewers, failure to carefully review calculations and hasty signatures when reviewing plans are also problems that cannot be ignored. Practice shows that accidents caused by people's unsafe behavior manifest themselves as direct economic losses on the one hand; on the other hand, they manifest as indirect economic losses that are difficult to estimate. It involves various aspects such as an enterprise's reputation, qualifications, market development, and economic operation effects. Further enhancing the operators' awareness of safe operations, improving the safety management quality of engineering personnel, and improving the comprehensive management level of enterprises will eliminate hidden dangers of accidents to the greatest extent and prevent and avoid accidents. (2) Analysis of the unsafe state of objects Under modern equipment conditions, with the improvement of safety technology level, the matching level of "man, machine and environment" is getting higher and higher. Due to the complexity of the hoisting operation site in petrochemical engineering construction, there are often cross-operation phenomena, which brings certain difficulties to the safety management of hoisting operations. Unsafe conditions of objects may occur at all stages of the entire construction process, mainly in the following aspects: 1. The unsafe condition of the natural ground. When supporting the truck, even if certain measures are taken, the foundation may collapse, leading to hoisting accidents. 2. The exposed welding wires caused the on-site steel structure, labor protection, and tower equipment to become electrified. When the main rope of the crane came into contact with it, sparks occurred, causing the wire rope to break and causing an accident. 3. Environmental factors such as atmospheric moisture cause poor performance of equipment (such as winches). If inspection and maintenance are not paid attention to, accidents can occur. 4. The unsafe state of objects due to human behavior, such as: during the lifting process, the operator misuses the operating lever, causing a falling accident. Another example: when a welder pulls the wire, he injures the wire rope without reporting it, which often leads to accidents. As mentioned above, the unsafe state of objects caused by factors such as on-site environmental factors and civilized construction management deficiencies, in the final analysis, also reflects deficiencies in the company's comprehensive management level. 4. Management and control measures The analysis of accidents caused by unsafe behaviors of people and unsafe conditions of objects shows that whether it is irregular operations or unsafe conditions in the environment, there are hidden problems of insufficient management and control, that is, the failure to implement effective management and control of dangerous sources. Based on the above analysis of accident causes, in petrochemical construction operations, the safety management and control of hoisting operations must first of all improve the enterprise's safety management system and operating mechanism, pay close attention to accident prevention, focus on the management and control of human errors, and highlight the following aspects of work: (1) Strengthen the implementation of the responsibility system of responsible persons at all levels. In response to cases where accidents are caused by lax plan approval, we must continuously adjust and improve the enterprise's management system, operating mechanism, leadership responsibility system, etc., establish and improve various safety production regulations, standards, and systems, highlight target management, fully implement the safety production responsibility system with the administrative leader as the first responsible person, identify hidden dangers, and take measures to prevent accidents. (2) Strengthen safety education and training. In view of the incorrect attitudes, deficiencies in operating skills and deficiencies in the knowledge and skills of managers during the hoisting operations of refining and chemical equipment, we must start from improving the quality of people, actively carry out safety education and training, and highlight the education of safety systems and operating standards. In the education method, we must pay attention to the combination of science and methods, use both rewards and penalties, and insist on starting from the three aspects of technology, education, and enforcement. Through long-term efforts, we will continue to improve the quality of people while improving the comprehensive management level of the enterprise. (3) Efforts to improve corporate safety technology and equipment. Take safety technical measures as much as possible. Because people have initiative and there are many environmental variables, the effectiveness of relying solely on education and training is limited. When economic conditions permit, safety protection facilities and equipment for workers should be improved to continuously improve the modern equipment level of the enterprise. (4) Strengthen the management and control of the entire operation process. Emphasize system safety management, strengthen the safety management of hoisting operations by all personnel, the whole process, and all aspects. Every link cannot be relaxed, that is, from technical solutions to safety measures. From the operation technical briefing to the entire process of on-site operations, and even the end of the operation, if there is a production operation plan, there must be a safety measure plan; if there are construction operation focus, there must be safety monitoring focus, and implement multi-angle and all-round management.

Chemical companies should not have too many hoisting accidents during construction and maintenance. It is recommended that the poster mainly collect hoisting accidents during production and operation.