Employees are the main assets of any company and process safety management plays a pivotal role in ensuring the security, health, and safety of the employees.
In a wide range of industries, processing hazardous chemicals can result in a number of threats, including the unexpected release of reactive, toxic, or flammable gases and liquids.
If adequate safety precautions are not taken, these risks can lead to a major disaster! As proven by the many unfortunate tragedies that have occurred at processing facilities in the past, the potential for danger is very serious and ever-present.
Workers in such industries may face risks of refinery and plant explosions, fires, and other types of workplace accidents.
Toxic or chemical exposure and oilfield accidents are also significant risks that the workers face.
As the potential for disaster is huge when hazardous chemicals are present, employers that use them are required to ensure that such dangers are properly controlled.
The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) have established federal standards for process safety management to ensure that hazardous materials are handled, transported, and used safely.
The key objective of process safety management of hazardous chemicals is to prevent explosion, fires, and unwanted release of such hazardous chemicals, specifically where it can expose the public and employees to serious hazards.
The OSHA standards for process safety management cover a wide variety of industries, including general industry, construction, chemical facilities, and petroleum refineries and plants.
Regardless of the industry, in order to ensure process safety management, some of the minimum elements that OSHA requires the employers to do are as follows: • Develop and maintain safety information identifying workplace process and chemical hazards, technology and equipment used in the manufacturing processes; • Perform an industry risk assessment, including, identification of potential sources of hazardous releases, identification of previous releases within the workplace that had a potential for disastrous consequences in the facility, estimation of the effects of a range of releases, and estimation of the effects on the health and safety of a range of employees; • Consult with workers and their representatives on the conduct and development of hazard assessments and the development of accident prevention plans and other records required under the standard; • Establish a system to respond to the industry risk assessment findings, which shall address mitigation, prevention, and emergency responses; • Periodically review the workplace risk assessment and response system; • Develop standard operating procedures for all processes, including operating limitations, procedures for each operating phase, and health and safety considerations; • Provide written operating information for workers and employee training in operating procedures, by emphasizing risks and safety practices that must be maintained and made available; • Ensure contract employees and contractors are provided with adequate information and training; • Train contractors and employees in emergency response procedures in a manner as effective and comprehensive as that required by the regulation; • Establish a quality assurance program to ensure that spare parts and maintenance materials are fabricated and installed in accordance with design specifications; When employers fail to take sufficient measures to adhere to process safety management standards and to keep employees safe from preventable harm, they can be held liable for the damages that victims suffer! Hence, process safety management is of utmost importance in any process industry to ensure the health and safety of the employees.