Process Safety Management PSM

Upon completion of this chapter the student should be able to  

Standard, 29 CFR 1910.119, which became law in 1992. It mandated that industries with highly hazardous chemicals conduct process hazards analyses and develop and implement a process safety management program. 

In designing the Process Safety Management standard (PSM), OSHA looked at overall process safety from a broad system s view and identified 14 key elements that industry should address to minimize catastrophic accidents. The 14 elements cover the things that can cause a process failure and accidents. Some of the major causes of process accidents are a lack of training, lack of information about process equipment, lack of equipment inspections, poor coordination with contractors, and lack of employee participation in process planning and implementation. The program is triggered by above-threshold quantities of any of 136 chemicals. The purpose of the standard is to minimize the consequences of a catastrophic release of a toxic, flammable, reactive, or explosive chemical. The importance of this standard is that it requires safety analysis and names certain analytic techniques to use or their equivalent. 

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Government regulations reqmre hazard and risk analysis as part of process safety management (PSM) programs. These are part of the process safety programs of many chemical process facilities. 

Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) (Dowell, 1994, pp. 30-34.) The OSHA rule for Process Safety Management (PSM) of Highly Toxic Hazardous Chemicals, 29 CFR 1910.119, part (e), reqmres an initial PHA and an update every five years for processes that handle listed chemicals or contain over 10,000 lb (4356 kg) of flammable material. The PHA must be done by a team, must include employees such as operators and mechanics, and must have at least one person skilled in the methodology employed. Suggested methodologies from Process Safety Management are listed in Table 26-1. 

Process Safety Management (PSM) A program or activity involving the application of management principles and analytical techniques to ensure the safety of chemical process facilities. Sometimes called process hazard management. Each principle is often termed an element or component of process safety. 

Process Safety Management (PSM), under OSHA, attempts to protect employees exposed to toxicity, tire, or explosion. Many plants employing chemical engineers must do a PSM consisting of fourteen parts. Some of the parts are greatly facilitated if the team includes chemical engineers. 

Included in OSH As JHA Booklet, 3071, is a good description of a process hazard analysis (PHA) [1]. This is being used in the Process Safety Management (PSM) program (29 CER 1910.119) to understand how hazards exist. There are some good methods listed in the manual that can be used to conduct a JHA. As you review each method you can determine which one may be useful for your operation. The typical method chosen is the checklist. 

Most or the incidents described were the result or not rollowing good engineering practice. Some violated the law, and many more would if they occurred today. In the United States, they would violate OSHA 1910.147 (1990) on The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lock Out/Tag Out) and the Process Safety Management (PSM) Law (OSHA 1910.119, in force since 1992). which applies to listed chemicals above a threshold quantity. The PSM Law requires companies to follow good engineering practice, codes, industry consensus standards, and even the company s owm standards. OSHA could view failure to follow any of these as violations. 

Implementing process safety management (PSM) is a process, each of whose phases builds on previous steps. This book s organization reflects this process chronologically. Chapters 2 through 8 of this book present a step-by-step... 

Prompted by new regulation, industry standards, and good business practice, our corporate safety staff has prepared recommendations for the Core Management Group concerning Process Safety Management (PSM). 

Company X is committed to the continuous improvement of process safety management (PSM), the discipline that helps assure that we conduct our business operations in a manner that protects and promotes the health and safety of our employees and our neighbors. 

As you know from the policy statement distributed last month, we recognize continuous improvement in process safety management (PSM) as a company priority. 

This document presents cm approach for implementing Process Safety Management (PSM) within our company, prepared for the Core Management Group s review. It is organized to include the following sections ... 

This report summarizes the PSM team s progress in developing Process Safety Management (PSM) systems. 

As you know, the Task Force has spent the past five months reviewing the division s process safety management (PSM) systems as part of our company s corporate PSM initiative. We are pleased with our progress to date, and your support has enabled us to expedite the process ahead of expectations. 

Process Safety Management (PSM) is the application of management systems to identify, understand, and control chemical and manufacturing process hazards and to prevent process-related injuries and incidents. 

One of the most important elements of the PSM Rule is the process hazard analysis (PrHA). It requires the systematic identification of hazards and related accident scenarios. The PSM Rule allows the use of different analysis methods, but the selected method must be based on the process being analyzed. The PSM Rule specifies that PrHAs must be completed as soon as possible within a 5-year period. However, one-fourth of the PrHAs must have been completed by May 26, 1994, with an additional one-fourth completed each succeeding year. The highest risk processes were to be done first. A schedule for PrHAs must be established at the outset of a process safety management (PSM) program to give priority to the highest risk processes. PrHAs must be reviewed and updated at least every 5 years. 

Process research, in fine chemical research and development, 11 426 Process reviews, 10 163 Process risk analysis, in large-scale pharmaceutical synthesis, 16 726 Process safety, 20 731-732 Process safety management, 21 826 standards for, 21 592 Process Safety Management (PSM) of Highly Hazardous Chemicals standard, 21 829... 

In 1992, OSHA promulgated its Process Safety Management (PSM) Standard (29 CFR 1910.119). The standard covers processes containing individually listed chemicals that present a range of hazards, including reactivity, as well as a class of flammable chemicals. Reactive chemicals were selected from an existing list of chemicals identified and rated by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) because of their instability rating of "3" or "4" (on a scale of 0 to 4)4,5... 

Amend the Process Safety Management (PSM) Standard, 29 CFR 1910.119, to achieve more comprehensive control of reactive hazards that could have catastrophic consequences. 

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