This recommended practice (RP) provides safe work practices for the prevention and control of vapor, ignition, and other potential hazards during abrasive blasting of aboveground storage tanks in liquid hydrocarbon service at atmospheric pressure. It is generally recognized in the petroleum industry that the preferable method is to empty, vapor-free, and clean aboveground petroleum storage tanks before starting abrasive blasting work.
However, this may not be practical or even possible, and may actually increase the risk of an undesirable hazard or incident in some situations. It is, therefore, necessary to understand the potential ignition and safety hazards when planning abrasive blasting and to implement the appropriate safeguards before starting this work. This RP provides assistance to employers in developing operating procedures that provide for hazard recognition to significantly reduce ignition risks during abrasive blasting of hydrocarbon storage tanks in service that may contain or have the potential to develop a flammable atmosphere in the vapor space.
This RP does not cover all of the precautions that may be required to safely perform abrasive blasting. Owner/ operators and contractors shall conduct a thorough hazard analysis and prejob start-up safety and health review for each specific abrasive blasting job in order to ensure that all necessary precautions and safeguards have been identified and implemented prior to beginning work.
