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Process Safety Management is a regulation, promulgated by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

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.

Definitions

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. 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 Highly Hazardous Chemical is ...........

A process safety incident is the "Unexpected release of toxic, reactive, or flammable liquids and gases in processes involving highly hazardous chemicals.

Rationale for the regulation

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)^[1] which contains requirements for the management of hazards associated with processes using highly hazardous chemicals. ^[2]

Compliance

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^[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.^[4] Appendix D of the OSHA's PSM regulations endorses the use of the methods explained in that book.

Clarifications and interpretations

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.^[5]

See also

• Accidental release source terms
• Atmospheric dispersion modeling
• Hazard analysis
• Hazardous chemicals
• Process safety

Further reading

• Kletz, Trevor (1999). Hazop and Hazan, 4th Edition. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-85295-421-2. 
• Frank Lees (2005). Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 3rdEdition. Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-7506-7555-0. 
• Trevor Kletz (1984). Cheaper, safer plants, or wealth and safety at work: notes on inherently safer and simpler plants. I.Chem.E.. ISBN 0852951671. 
• Trevor Kletz (2001). An Engineer’s View of Human Error, 3rdEdition. I.Chem.E.. ISBN 0-85295-430-1.