Tag: PSM

OSHA’s Process Safety Standard­: Requirements, Enforcement, Future

By Guy Burdick, EHS Daily Advisor Feb 28, 2023 EHS Administration

Updated: Apr 11, 2023

Improperly handling highly hazardous chemicals can result in chemical accidents, or unexpected releases of explosive, flammable, reactive, or toxic gases and liquids. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) process safety management (PSM) standard sets out industry requirements for preventing or minimizing catastrophic releases of chemicals, and it applies across many industries. Preventing chemical accidents […]

OSHA Postpones Process Safety Stakeholder Meeting

By Guy Burdick, EHS Daily Advisor Sep 29, 2022 EHS Administration

Updated: Sep 29, 2022

On September 20, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced the postponement of a stakeholder meeting on possible changes to the agency’s process safety management (PSM) standard (87 Federal Register (FR) 57520). The meeting, which was originally scheduled for September 28, will be held October 12. Written comments must be submitted by November 14. […]

OSHA Weighs Broadening PSM Standard’s Scope

By Guy Burdick, EHS Daily Advisor Sep 2, 2022 Chemicals

Updated: Sep 2, 2022

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is weighing changes to its process safety management (PSM) standard, including expanding it to include oil- and gas-well drilling and servicing, according to the agency’s August 30 announcement of an informal stakeholder meeting (87 Federal Register (FR) 53020). The PSM standard, which requires employers to implement safety programs […]

safety audit team

Does Your PSM Auditor Have the Right Stuff?

By Dakota Software May 8, 2020 EHS Management

Updated: May 8, 2020

Every 3 years, you need to complete an audit of your process safety management (PSM) processes. Often, the emphasis is on the standard and the facility—but in order to conduct a thorough and effective compliance audit, you also need a skilled auditor. And that means more than someone who knows what the standard says.

Chemicals, chemical tanks

More Details on the EPA’s RMP Reconsideration Rule

By William C. Schillaci Nov 26, 2019 Regulatory Developments

Updated: Nov 26, 2019

Facilities subject to Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act—better known as the Risk Management Program (RMP)—won a significant deregulatory victory with the EPA’s issuance of its RMP Reconsideration Rule. The Reconsideration Rule rescinds major portions of the RMP Amendments Rule the Obama EPA issued in January 2017.

Boiler guage

OSHRC Says PSM Rule Covers Connected Vessels

By Guy Burdick, EHS Daily Advisor Apr 17, 2019 Chemicals

Updated: Apr 17, 2019

The Process Safety Management (PSM) standard applies to equipment like boilers that don’t involve highly hazardous chemicals if the equipment is interconnected with or located near equipment that does, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission recently decided.

Retail Facilities

Bill Would Affect Retail Facilities Definition for PSM Standard

By William C. Schillaci Oct 5, 2018 Chemicals

Updated: Oct 5, 2018

A provision in the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (Farm Bill), which passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in June 2018, would provide a definition that clarifies that retail facilities that receive more than half of their income from direct sales to end users or consumers, including farmers and ranchers, are exempt from […]

Agriculture

PSM Enforcement for Agricultural Wholesalers Revised by OSHA

By William C. Schillaci May 30, 2018 Enforcement and Inspection

Updated: May 30, 2018

Consistent with the opinion issued in September 2016 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for DC Circuit (Agricultural Retailers Association and the Fertilizer Institute v. U.S. Department of Labor), OSHA has announced that it will not issue citations under its Process Safety Management (PSM) standard for certain wholesalers of agricultural products.