Process safety-regulations

The state of Louisiana amended its air quaUty regulations (26) to incorporate requirements for chemical accident prevention, and several other states, including Michigan and New York, are considering process safety regulations. 

Regulation governing process safety varies dramatically outside the United States. Several European countries have strong requirements calling for safety analysis of new projects, while other countries have no process safety regulation at all. 

Homer, R. A., "Direction of Plant Process Safety Regulations in the United States," J. Loss Prev. Proc. Ind., 2 (1989). 

The information in this publication is applicable to many industrial facilities not covered by process safety regulations such as the OSHA PSM Standard and the Seveso II Directive. Many reactive chemicals are not listed as regulated materials, and chemical reactivity hazards include uncontrolled chemical reactions between materials not considered as highly hazardous, or under conditions not typically encountered in storage and shipping. 

Over 50 percent of the 167 incidents involved chemicals not covered by existing OSHA or EPA process safety regulations.7... 

As a result of the joint OSHA-EPA chemical accident investigation of the Napp Technologies incident in April 1995, a recommendation was made by EPA and OSHA to consider adding more reactive chemicals to their respective lists of chemicals covered by process safety regulations. To date, neither OSHA nor EPA process safety regulations have been modified to better cover reactive hazards. 

What criteria could be used in the context of process safety regulations to classify chemical mixtures as highly hazardous due to chemical reactivity ... 

CSB found significant gaps in OSHA process safety regulations designed to protect workers from highly hazardous chemicals, including reactive hazards. OSHA standards cover the hazards of some classes of substances, such as flammable and combustible liquids however, no OSHA standard specifically addresses reactive hazards. 

Boyen, V. E., A Compliance Strategy for Process Safety Regulations, presented at the 1992 Loss Prevention Symposium of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in New Orleans, La., April 1992. 

The first level in Figure 2.1 is Regulations. The different types of regulatory strategy are discussed below. Information to do with specific process safety regulations is provided later in this chapter. 

Table 2.1 summarizes the major state and federal process safety regulations in the United States in the chronological order in which they were promulgated. 

Table 2.1 Process Safety Regulations (United States)...

The process safety regulation to do with emergency planning and response provides very little detail. Instead it refers companies to other OSHA standards which already cover this topic in detail,... 

Before a change can be implemented, it must be formally approved and accepted by the facility management (Figure 10.9). This approval is necessary to meet the requirements of the process safety regulations. The approval also serves as a formal record should there ever be an incident in which the change is implicated as a possible cause. 

Risk-Based vs. Compliance-Based Requirements. Prior to the 1990s, OSHA regulations were almost exclusively compliance-based. Very specific rules were promulgated and inspections were made to ensure that the rules were followed. With the advent of the process safety regulation, a portion of it required that the risk associated with a manufacturing or other chemical site be assessed and appropriate actions be taken to mitigate the results of an accident to protect the workers. 

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