Category Archives: Compliance

Regulatory Compliance

Garden City Ammonia Program PodCast

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Brian Chapin

I recently had a long conversation with Craig Ward of Garden City Ammonia Program. He turned it into an episode for their GCAP Cool Cast. You can listen to the entire conversation here. As always – feedback is welcome.

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RAGAGEP: Just what is it?

Posted on December 26, 2010 by Brian Chapin

RAGAGEP stands for Recognized and Generally Accepted Good Engineering Practice. OSHA: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.119 (D)(3)(ii): “The employer shall document that equipment complies with recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices.” EPA: EPA 40 CFR 68.73 (d)(2): “Inspection and testing … Continue reading →

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Fatal spill brings $91,000 fine

Posted on December 17, 2010 by Brian Chapin

South Carolina regulators have fined a Pennsylvania company $91,000 for a string of emergency preparedness failures they say occurred before a fatal chemical leak near its Swansea plant last year. The Department of Health and Environmental Control says the wrong … Continue reading →

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Unattended Operation? Better get Ammonia Detection!

Posted on November 21, 2010 by Brian Chapin

Certainly your ammonia technician will pick up any minor leaks during a regularly scheduled walk-through of the facility. But what if that leak starts at 6pm Friday evening and everyone is gone for the weekend? You had better have some … Continue reading →

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National Emphasis Program targeting Chemicals to Continue

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Brian Chapin

“OSHA’s scrutiny of the refinery industry and of chemical facilities covered by the Process Safety Management standard will increase, Jordan Barab, deputy assistant secretary of OSHA said in an Oct. 27 speech at the 2010 Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center … Continue reading →

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Another six figure Ammonia Refrigeration Process Safety Management fine

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Brian Chapin

From the OSHA press release: BRAINTREE, Mass. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited American Seafoods International LLC for 15 alleged willful and serious violations of safety and health standards at its New Bedford, … Continue reading →

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OSHA PSM National Emphasis Program Extended

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Brian Chapin

Last year our good friends at OSHA finally started moving their PSM inspectors away from the oil refineries. A National Emphasis Plan was created to audit PSM. The NEP is targeted at Ammonia and Chlorine users – 32411 NAICS code … Continue reading →

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Actual OSHA Citations

Posted on July 13, 2010 by Brian Chapin

Here’s a summary of two recent collections of proposed fines from OSHA. I’m not in any way affiliated with either of these facilities; I was just fortunate enough to get copies of the citations. There are plenty of things in … Continue reading →

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EPA settles with Pacific Seafood Group

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Brian Chapin

EPA extracted a $35,000 penalty for not complying with the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act. In the agreement, EPA alleges that Pacific Seafood failed to immediately notify emergency response entities after the ammonia release occurred and they failed … Continue reading →

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OSHA vs. EPA

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Brian Chapin

If you are covered under OSHA’s PSM regulation you know that you are covered under the EPA’s RMP regulation as well. I understand why most people focus on the PSM regulations – they are used to dealing with OSHA regulations … Continue reading →

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