Process Safety Management

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

Process safety management is an analytical tool focused on preventing releases of any substance defined as a "highly hazardous chemical" by the EPA or OSHA. Process Safety Management (PSM) refers to a set of interrelated approaches to managing hazards associated with the process industries and is intended to reduce the frequency and severity of incidents resulting from releases of chemicals and other energy sources (US OSHA 1993). These standards are composed of organizational and operational procedures, design guidance, audit programs, and a host of other methods.

The process safety management program is divided into 14 elements. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 1910.119 define all 14 elements of process safety management plan.

All of those elements mentioned above are interlinked and interdependent. There is a tremendous interdependency of the various elements of PSM. All elements are related and are necessary to make up the entire PSM picture. Every element either contributes information to other elements for the completion or utilizes information from other elements in order to be completed.

PSI or process safety information might be considered the keystone of a PSM Program in that it tells you what you are dealing with from both the equipment and the process standpoint. In order to be in compliance with the OSHA PSM regulations the process safety information should include information pertaining to the hazards of the highly hazardous chemicals used or produced by the process, information pertaining to the technology of the process and information pertaining to the equipment in the process.

Information pertaining to the hazards of the highly hazardous chemicals in the process should consist of at least the following:

Information pertaining to the technology of the process should include at least the following:

Information pertaining to the equipment in the process should include following:

The employer should document that equipment complies with recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices (RAGAGEP) For existing equipment designed and constructed in accordance with codes, standards or practices that are no longer in general use, the employer should determine and document that the equipment is designed, maintained, inspected, tested and operating in a safe manner.

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