Process safety management

Process safety management is a regulation, promulgated by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). A process is any activity or combination of activities including any use, storage, manufacturing, handling or the on-site movement of highly hazardous chemicals (HHCs) as defined by OSHA and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Definition

Process safety management is an analytical tool focused on preventing releases of any substance defined as a "highly hazardous chemicals" by the EPA or OSHA.dfs

Compliance

A process includes any group of vessels which are interconnected or separate and contain Highly Hazardous Chemicals (HHC's) which could be involved in a potential release. A process safety incident is the "Unexpected release of toxic, reactive, or flammable liquids and gases in processes involving highly hazardous chemicals. Incidents continue to occur in various industries that use highly hazardous chemicals which exhibit toxic, reactive, flammable, or even explosive properties, or may exhibit a combination of these properties. Regardless of the industry that uses these highly hazardous chemicals, there is a potential for an accidental release any time they are not properly controlled. This, in turn, creates the possibility of disaster. To help assure safe and healthy workplaces, OSHA has issued the Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals regulation (Title 29 of CFR Section 1910.119) which contains requirements for the management of hazards associated with processes using highly hazardous chemicals."

Any facility that stores or uses a defined "highly hazardous chemical" must comply with OSHA's process safety management (PSM) regulations as well as the quite similar United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Risk management program (RMP) regulations (Title 40 CFR Part 68). The EPA has published a model RMP plan for an ammonia refrigeration facility which provides excellent guidance on how to comply with either OSHA's PSM regulations or the EPA's RMP regulations.

The Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) has published a widely used book that explains various methods for identifying hazards in industrial facilities and quantifying their potential severity. Appendix D of the OSHA's PSM regulations endorses the use of the methods explained in that book.

External links

• EPA's General Risk Management Program Guidance (April 2004)
• EPA's Risk Management Program Guidance For Offsite Consequence Analysis
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (USA)
• European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (OSHA)
• Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
• The Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering Process Safety Management website
• National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (Australia)
• Health and Safety Executive (UK)
• OSHA Process Safety Guidance and Information
• WorkSafe Victoria – Major Hazards
• Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals – Compliance Guidelines and Enforcement Procedures
• Inside Functional Safety – Technical magazine focusing on functional safety

References

1. ^{^} OSHA's PSM regulations at 29CFR1910.119
2. ^{^} OSHA's brief discussion of PSM
3. ^{^} EPA's model RMP plan
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