Health and Safety Feature Library

Operations Engineer's library catalogues editorial features going back five years.

Access to all archive material is free to all, including non-members of IPlantE (the Institution of Operations Engineers) or BES (Bureau of Engineer Surveyors), under the umbrella of SOE (Society of Operations Engineers). However, to discover the many benefits of becoming an SOE member, please click here.

18/03/2025 Exhausted by non-compliance? With some testing companies reporting failure rates of 60-80%, many plants clearly struggle to achieve first-time COSHH compliance for their LEV system » Read More

04/02/2025 Train and gain When it comes to environmental spillage and incident management, the importance of training knows no bounds. Brian Wall reports » Read More

08/03/2024 Measuring isocyanates Making appropriately informed decisions when selecting methods for measuring airborne concentrations of isocyanates is vital to ensuring awareness of how to work under the Group Authority Licence (GAL) » Read More

08/03/2024 Timmer's diaphragm pumps How double diaphragm pumps from Timmer can take performance and failure protection to a new level » Read More

21/09/2022 Documenting Ex repairs Wherever there are gaseous atmospheres and dust, there is the potential for explosions with disastrous results. It is easy to see why legislation relating to hazardous areas and ensuring it is followed is important. When repairing ... » Read More

18/07/2022 What's up with HAZOPs? A hazard and operability study (HAZOP) is a type of risk assessment used for chemical process systems at the design and planning stage. It was first created as part of ICI’s six-stage hazard study process in the 1960’s, and subsequently ... » Read More

05/02/2020 Protecting nature Water companies need to adopt efficient ways of reducing phosphorus levels in water, in order to banish harmful algae from rivers and lakes » Read More

05/02/2019 Cleaning up Leaks and uncontrolled releases of diesel can have major impacts on nature and the environment if they aren’t dealt with properly. Luckily there are different measures, products and services available for operators and businesses in ... » Read More

26/08/2017 Peril of particles Mark Venables examines the issues facing managers as they balance the needs of people and productivity associated with laser and 3D printing processes, particularly in meeting their health and safety obligations in the light of recent ... » Read More

06/10/2011 Gorgon’s Ex-lighting saves local sea turtle population Cooper Crouse-Hinds reports that it has engineered an explosion-proof fluorescent light fitting for the Chevron-operated Gorgon project, at Barrow Island, that specifically minimises disturbance of the local sea turtle population. » Read More

06/10/2011 Hazardous electrics Hazardous areas demand properly certified equipment – and that applies to maintenance kit, too. But cost and efficiency are also key. Gordon Low examines the issues » Read More

06/10/2011 Dust explosion Running motors and low voltage ac drives on plants with dusty environments has been regulated under the ATEX directives since 2006. Steve Ruddell explains the detail » Read More

06/10/2011 Plant safety at any cost? Don't get me wrong: it's hard to argue with current moves to streamline health and safety legislation, in line with Lord Young's 'Common Sense, Common Safety' report – especially given that chief among the aims is to reduce the ... » Read More

09/12/2010 Common sense, common safety In the aftermath of Lord Young of Graffham's long awaited 'Common Sense, Common Safety' report, most health and safety engineers must be thinking, 'so what?'. Setting aside his now infamous gaff, Lord Young's only noteworthy ... » Read More

06/10/2010 Deepwater Horizon Last month's report by BP into the causes of its Gulf rig explosion and fire, and the lessons to be learned, point to a chilling sequence of failures. Brian Tinham reports » Read More

01/10/2008 Fluid thinking According to the Carbon Trust, UK industry spends around £9.5 billion on energy, with at least 40% of that consumed by process heating. 'Using straightforward techniques, between 5% and 10% of this could be saved, reducing spending on ... » Read More

01/08/2008 Sellafield special seal Novel wet pipeline sealing and deployment techniques, successfully trialled for the now redundant first-generation nuclear waste treatment and storage plant at Sellafield, will not only prevent hazardous conditions arising on plant, but ... » Read More

01/04/2008 Up and away Bad news travels fast, as the saying goes - but not so with rules and regulations. Apparently, somewhere in the region of one third of small businesses in the UK have still not heard of the PUWER (Provision and Use of Work Equipment ... » Read More

01/12/2007 Fire hazard Fire in an engineering environment is likely to have far more serious consequences than in almost any other industrial premises. » Read More

01/10/2005 Don't trust to luck While the risk of a prison sentence as a result of an accident resulting from the non-observance of safety regulations remains small, it is a possibility. The legal complications and potential damage to a business as a consequence of a ... » Read More