Process Safety Management

Process Safety Management is a regulation, promulgated by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), intended to prevent an incident like the 1984 Bhopal Disaster. A process is any activity or combination of activities including any use, storage, manufacturing, handling or the on-site movement of Highly Hazardous Chemicals (HHC's). A process includes any group of vessels which are interconnected or separate and contain 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)ref label|OSHAPSM|1|^ which contains requirements for the management of hazards associated with processes using highly hazardous chemicals." ref label|OSHA|2|^

A great many industrial facilities must comply with OSHA's Process Safety Management (PSM) regulations as well as the quite similar EPA Risk Management Program (RMP) regulations (Title 40 CFR Part 68). The EPA has published a model RMP plan for an ammonia refrigeration facilityref label|EPA|3|^ 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.ref label|CCPS|4|^ Appendix D of the OSHA's PSM regulations endorses the use of the methods explained in that book.

Clarifications and interpretations of the PSM Standard CPL 2-2.45A, Appendix B

The guidance contained in this appendix is provided for compliance assistance. It shall be followed in interpreting the PSM standard for compliance purposes. Unless otherwise noted, all paragraph citations refer to 29 CFR 1910.119.

This appendix contains clarifications agreed to in a settlement agreement dated April 5, 1993, between OSHA, the United Steelworkers of America, the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union, and the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO. The settlement agreement clarifications reflect modifications jointly and cooperatively agreed to by the above parties and by the Chemical Manufacturers Association, the American Petroleum Institute, the Dow Chemical Company, and the National Petroleum Refiners Association.

Where possible, clarifications and interpretations have been presented in a question-and-answer format.

Note: OSHA plans to include additional clarifications and interpretations in this appendix through future page changes to this instruction.ref label|CPL2A|5|^

ee also

*Accidental release source terms
*Atmospheric dispersion modeling
*Change management
*Hazard analysis
*Hazardous chemicals
*Process safety

Further reading

*cite book|author=Kletz, Trevor|title=Hazop and Hazan|edition=4th Edition|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=1999|id=ISBN 0-85295-421-2

External links

* [http://yosemite.epa.gov/oswer/ceppoweb.nsf/content/EPAguidance.htm#General EPA's General Risk Management Program Guidance (April 2004)]
* [http://yosemite.epa.gov/oswer/ceppoweb.nsf/vwResourcesByFilename/oca-all.PDF/$File/oca-all.PDF EPA's Risk Management Program Guidance For Offsite Consequence Analysis]
* [http://wwww.osha.gov Occupational Safety and Health Administration (USA)]
* [http://osha.europa.eu/ European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (OSHA)]
* [http://www.ccohs.ca Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety]
* [http://www.chimiste.ca/divisions/psm/index.htm The Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering Process Safety Management website]
* [http://www.nohsc.gov.au National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (Australia)]
* [http://www.hse.gov.uk Health and Safety Executive (UK)]
* [http://ehso.com/ProcessSafety.htm OSHA Process Safety Guidance and Information]
* [http://www.workcover.vic.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/WorkSafe/Home/Safety+and+Prevention/Your+Industry/Major+Hazard+Facilities/?zz=1&a=Major%20Hazard%20Facilities&p=Popular WorkSafe Victoria - Major Hazards]
* [http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=DIRECTIVES&p_id=1558 Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals -- Compliance Guidelines and Enforcement Procedures]
* [http://www.insidefunctionalsafety.com Inside Functional Safety] - Technical magazine focusing on functional safety

References

#note label|OSHAPSM|1|^ [http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=9760 OSHA's PSM regulations at 29CFR1910.119]
#note label|OSHA|2|^ [http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/processsafetymanagement/ OSHA's brief discussion of PSM]
#note label|EPA|3|^ [http://www.epa.gov/ttncaaa1/t3/memoranda/ammon.pdf EPA's model RMP plan]
#note label|CCPS|4|^cite book | author=Center for Chemical Process Safety | title=Guidelines for Hazard Evaluation Procedures, with Worked Examples | edition=2nd Edition | publisher=Wiley-AIChE | year=1992 | id=ISBN 0-8169-0491-X
#note label|CPL2A|5|^ [http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=DIRECTIVES&p_id=1558/ Clarifications and Interpretations of the PSM Standard]