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Author: Veress Árpád · Explosion-protection expertDAILY Ex - 23 SEPTEMBER 2026
A major new investigation finding → cylinder handling → IECEx service competence → hydrogen research → training → tomorrow’s hazardous-area meeting → one Operations use case.
⚡ DAILY Ex - 23 SEPTEMBER 2026
Explosion Protection | Operational Ex | Global Watch
Today’s focus is deliberately different: a major new investigation finding → cylinder handling → IECEx service competence → hydrogen research → training → tomorrow’s hazardous-area meeting → one Operations use case.
▶️ KEY FINDING - AN EXPLOSION PREVENTED BY PROCEDURES… UNTIL THE PROCEDURE FAILED
CURRENT INVESTIGATION | USA
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board has released its final report into the June 2025 explosion at Shell Polymers Monaca.
During restart, two motor-operated isolation valves were inadvertently opened simultaneously. Flammable cracked gas flowed backwards into a furnace containing lit pilots and exploded about six minutes later.
The finding: the hazard had already been identified.
But 11 administrative controls were being relied upon to prevent the backflow. Available engineered safeguards had not been configured for this operating mode. The HMI also displayed three nearly identical valves, contributing to the error. Damage was estimated at $95 million.
Why it matters operationally: This is almost a textbook BowTie question: For your highest-consequence Ex scenarios, how many preventive barriers are actually independent engineered barriers - and how many are instructions telling somebody not to make a mistake?
Procedure ≠ engineered prevention.
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▶️ INCIDENT UPDATE - EIGHT DEAD AFTER CYLINDER EXPLOSION
CURRENT | Bangladesh - investigation started 21 September
Yesterday’s early reports have now developed materially. Authorities say eight people died and 35 were injured after a gas cylinder exploded while being unloaded from a covered vehicle outside a garment factory in Ashulia. Bangladesh Fire Service has formed a four-member investigation committee.
https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/committee-formed-probe-savar-fire-1549686?utm
The cause behind the cylinder failure has not yet been established.
Operational Ex lesson: Hazardous operations do not begin at the process connection.
delivery → unloading → temporary storage → handling → connection → operation all require defined ownership and controls.
Do not turn an early incident report into an assumed root cause. But do use it to ask: How are cylinders received and unloaded at our site?
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▶️ IECEx — WHAT DOES A CERTIFIED SERVICE FACILITY ACTUALLY MEAN?
SCHEME PRACTICE | IECEx
The IECEx Certified Service Facility Scheme now covers activities far beyond repair workshops: area classification, design, installation, initial inspection, periodic inspection, maintenance, repair, overhaul and reclamation can all fall within certified service-facility scopes.
https://www.iecex.com/certified-service-facility-scheme/overview/?utm
There is an important detail in the IECEx FAQ:
An IECEx service facility performing inspection does not “IECEx certify” the equipment or installation. It provides inspection evidence that can support regulatory or client requirements.
https://www.iecex.com/certified-service-facility-scheme/faqs-certified-equipment-scheme/?utm
Why it matters: When procuring an Ex service ask: “What exact activity is inside your certified scope?” Certification scope matters as much as certification status. IECEx Certified Service Facilities Scheme
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▶️ RESEARCH - HYDROGEN VENTILATION: “MORE OPEN AREA” MAY NOT BE ENOUGH
CURRENT RESEARCH | October 2026 issue, available online
A new Journal of Energy Storage study modelled hydrogen leakage inside mobile tube-bundle container cabins.
One particularly relevant result: natural ventilation, even with large vent areas, was insufficient in the studied configurations to prevent formation of a detonation-risk region. Roof geometry and forced ventilation substantially changed the outcome.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2026.123300?utm
Operational Ex lesson:
For hydrogen: “It is outdoors / naturally ventilated / has openings” should not automatically become: “therefore accumulation cannot occur.”
Geometry matters. Leak direction matters. Buoyancy matters. Obstructions matter. Ventilation should be demonstrated, not assumed.
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▶️ COMPETENCE - Ex REPAIR IS A SPECIALIST ACTIVITY
TRAINING / IEC 60079-19
The training shall covers IEC 60079-19, protection concepts, measurements, documentation, reclamation and practical assessment, aligned with IECEx Unit Ex005.
Operational point: A technician may be extremely competent at repairing an ordinary motor.
That does not automatically establish competence to restore: flamepaths → clearances → protection concept → temperature limitations → documentation of an Ex motor. Mechanical repair completed ≠ Ex integrity restored.
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▶️ MEETING WATCH - HAZARDEX TOMORROW
CURRENT | UK - 23 September
Hazardex in the Regions takes place tomorrow in Ellesmere Port, bringing together hazardous-area, process-safety and functional-safety specialists.
A useful reason for Operations people to follow these cross-disciplinary meetings is simple: Many serious failures happen at the interfaces: Process ↔️ Ex ↔️ Functional Safety ↔️ Maintenance ↔️ Operations. Everyone can correctly perform their own task while the overall barrier still fails.
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▶️ OPERATIONAL Ex USE CASE - EXTRA FORKLIFT CHARGING
PRACTICAL USE CASE |
Production expands. Three forklifts become six. Someone proposes adding another charging point in the warehouse. It sounds like a facilities job.
But before installation: battery technology → charging gas release → ventilation → existing hazardous areas → nearby combustible materials → electrical equipment → ignition sources → emergency arrangements need to be understood.
The important question is: “What hazardous condition can the new charging activity create?” Small operational changes can create new Ex interfaces without anybody deliberately changing the hazardous-area plant.
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▶️ GOOD ENGINEERING PRACTICE - TEST YOUR BARRIERS, NOT YOUR PAPERWORK
Take one credible explosion scenario today. Write down its three strongest preventive barriers.
Then ask: How do we know each barrier works today? What physical or documented evidence demonstrates that the barrier is currently effective?
That small change in question separates documented Ex compliance from Operational Ex assurance.
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▶️ TODAY’S Ex QUESTION
Find one high-consequence scenario in your plant where the final preventive barrier is:
“Operator follows procedure.”
Now ask: Could engineering make the wrong action impossible - or at least significantly harder?
The Shell investigation published this month gives us a very good reason to ask that question.
Daily Ex
The objective is to keep operating inside its demonstrated Ex-safe condition - today.