{"id":388,"date":"2011-11-29T21:55:33","date_gmt":"2011-11-30T02:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taocompliance.com\/?p=388"},"modified":"2011-11-29T22:30:23","modified_gmt":"2011-11-30T03:30:23","slug":"psm-covered-chemical-facilities-national-emphasis-program-goes-nationwide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taocompliance.com\/?p=388","title":{"rendered":"PSM Covered Chemical Facilities National Emphasis Program goes NATIONWIDE!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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OSHA promulgated the PSM standard in 1992 in response to a number of catastrophic incidents that occurred worldwide (See Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals, 29 CFR 1910.119).\u00a0 These incidents spurred broad recognition that releases of highly hazardous chemicals could lead to incidents that may occur relatively infrequently, but, due to their catastrophic nature, often result in multiple injuries and fatalities.<\/p>\n

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On September 13, 1994, OSHA issued Instruction CPL 02-02-045, Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals \u2013 Compliance Guidelines and Enforcement Procedures.\u00a0 This instruction established policies, procedures, clarifications, and compliance guidance for enforcement of the PSM standard.\u00a0 The instruction acknowledged that Program Quality Verification (PQV) inspections were resource intensive, and, therefore, OSHA would perform only a limited number each year.<\/p>\n

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Consequently, very few PQV inspections have been conducted since Instruction CPL 02-02-045 was issued in 1994.<\/p>\n

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In July 2009, OSHA implemented a pilot NEP for PSM-covered chemical facilities.\u00a0 The pilot outlined a new approach for inspecting PSM-covered facilities that allowed for a greater number of inspections using better allocation of OSHA resources.\u00a0 Under the pilot, OSHA was able to increase the number of PSM facilities inspected with relatively limited resources.<\/p>\n

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<\/span>Based on data collected and feedback from OSHA personnel, this Instruction outlines a slightly modified Chemical NEP that will be launched OSHA-wide…<\/p>\n

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\n<\/span>This Instruction expands the PSM-Covered Chemical Plants National Emphasis Program\u00a0nationwide to all OSHA Regions and State Plans.<\/p>\n