PROCESS safety is not something that is dealt with very much in the trucking industry, but it definitely applies to operations such as steaming trailers, according to Gary Carroll, vice-president of The WCM Group.
He discussed process safety in a presentation entitled: Heating Procedures and EPA RMP/OSHA PSM Guidelines delivered during the National Tank Truck Carriers’ Tank Cleaning & Environmental Council Meeting held June 4 and 5 in Denver, Colorado.
In 1990, concerned about an overall lack of response to the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, Congress included a provision in the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA) that required the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop a system of regulation protective of employees and the community in the event of an accidental release of hazardous materials from manufacturing facilities.
“At first, we thought truckers could get out of this because they’re not manufacturing facilities,” he said, adding that the applicability of Clean Air Act 112(r) depends on whether the facility has a regulated chemical and a quantity of chemical in any single process above the specified threshold.
OSHA’s Process S
afety Management (PSM) and EPA’s Risk Management Program (RMP) were developed through the Clean Air Act.
The differences:
• OSHA requires no reporting of a facility’s PSM program, but EPA does require a facility to submit its RMP (online using e-Submit software).
• The EPA’s off-site consequence analysis (OCA) is required for each “covered process” in order to determine the facility’s “Worst Case Release Scenario” and their “Alternative Release Scenario.”
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• Chemicals and their thresholds are different. OSHA lumped all flammable liquids (less than 100 degrees F flash point) together and set their threshold at 10,000 pounds. EPA treats flammable liquids much differently in that the specific flammable liquid must be listed by CAS number to be considered to be an Extremely Hazardous Substance” (EHS). They use fewer than 73 degrees F flash point.
• Management system. EPA’s RMP (68.15) requires the facility to have a written management system to oversee the implementation of the RMP. OSHA’s PSM does not require this written management system.
• Program Levels. RMP has them and PSM does not. “OSHA is all about inside the fence line and EPA is all about beyond the fence line.”
• Process Hazards Analysis. You can use the PHA conducted for OSHA PSM compliance as your initial process hazard analysis for EPA purposes. Your update must consider offsite impacts. Any initial PHA performed after May 26, 1997, must consider offsite impacts in order for it to satisfy EPA’s requirements.
• Emergency response. RMP has many more specific requirements and language. EPA’s RMP (68.95) requires facilities to develop and implement an emergency response program for the purpose of protecting public health and the environment, where as OSHA is all about protecting the workers and responders.
EPA requires the facility’s Emergency Response Plan (ERP) to include the following elements: procedures for informing the public and local emergency response agencies about accidental releases; documentation of proper first-aid and emergency medical treatment necessary to treat accidental human exposures’ procedures and measures for emergency response after an accidental release of a regulated substance; procedures for the use of emergency response equipment and for its inspection, testing, and maintenance; training for all employees in relevant procedures; and procedures to review and update, as appropriate, the emergency response plan to reflect changes at the facility and ensure that employees are informed of changes.
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“The emergency response plan must be coordinated with the community emergency response plan developed under 42 U.S.C. 11003,” he said. “OSHA’s PSM Emergency planning and response element is very brief and only refers facilities to implement an emergency action plan (EAP) for the entire plant in accordance with the provisions of 29 CFR 1910.38.”
• Three-year and five-year activities and updates. Both OSHA’s PSM and EPA’s RMP require certain activities to occur every three and five years. Both require an audit every three years and both require the process hazards analysis to be revalidated every five years. But EPA also requires the RMP submittal to be updated at least every five years.
Carroll provided some definitions:
• Regulated substance: Any substance listed in CAA 112(r)(3) in CFR 68.130. There are 140 substances (63 flammable, 77 toxic) listed.
• Threshold quantity: Quantity specified for a regulated substance present at a stationary source.
• Stationary source: Any structures/equipment located on one or more contiguous properties under the control of the same person(s) from which an accidental release may occur. Properties shall not be considered contiguous solely because of a railroad or pipeline right-of-way.
• Process: Activity involving a regulated substance. Any group of vessels that are interconnected or separate vessels that are located such that a regulated substance could be involved in a potential release shall be considered a single process.
• Covered process: Process that has a regulated substance present in more than a threshold quantity.
• Vessel: Any reactor, tank, drum, barrel, cylinder, vat, kettle, boiler, pipe, hose, or other container. This includes transportation containers disconnected from mode of power.
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“So if we disconnect from a power unit, then we would have to do a hazard evaluation,” he said. “We dolly down a lot of trailers, which could include flammable materials. Technically that puts you into this system. The analysis you would do with this would be very unlikely to occur, but I haven’t seen a trucking company that actually does this for dollying down trailers.
“Steaming is definitely a process for those 140 chemicals and definitely a process if we steam something that’s flammable. If we steam something that’s flammable, we should have RMP and PSM. You have to get into all this background stuff. I have been involved with two problems with a steaming rack. One was over pressure and one was a fire. Both occurred during steaming. We don’t know exactly what the cause was, but when OSHA showed up, they left us alone during the cleanup. They just wanted to make sure we were safe and not overly exposed to chemicals. But when we got it cleaned up, the first word out of their mouths was, ‘Where’s your PSM? Where’s your study to make sure you didn’t let this happen? And if you did, what can you do better next time?’
“Very few of you will leave a tractor under a trailer while steaming. It’s not to say you can’t steam, but this program is intense. While analyzing the process, you need to answer questions, such as: Do we need two valves? Do we need a ball valve instead of a butterfly valve?’ This is part of process safety you have to go through on every process.
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“Steaming is the process, but you have 140 chemicals. You have an unlimited number of flammable chemicals. Do you need to do a process safety analysis for each one? Yes. Because each one has a different vapor pressure.”
Program 1:
• Eligibility criteria: No public receptors in worst-case scenario zone and no accidents with a specified off-site consequence in the last five years (death, injury, response or restoration activity for an exposure of an environmental receptor). Flammable storage is most common.
• Requirements: Limited hazard assessment requirements and minimal prevention and emergency response requirements.
Program 3:
• Eligibility criteria: Ineligible for Program 1 and either subject to OSHA PSM (federal or state) or one of 10 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes specified in 40 CFR Part 68. It’s usually complex chemical processes.
• Requirements: Imposes OSHA’s PSM standard as the prevention program, plus, additional hazard assessment, management, and emergency response requirements.
Program 2:
• Eligibility criteria: Ineligible for Program 1 and not covered by Program 3.
• Requirements: Streamlined prevention program requirements (compared to Program 3), plus additional hazard assessment, management, and emergency response requirements (compared to Program 1).
“Each process is assigned to a program level, not the facility as a whole,” Carroll said. “Program 2 is the default program level. Any process that does not meet applicability requirements for Program 1 or Program 3 is subject to requirements for Program 2. Only one program level can apply to a process. The highest program level that applies to any segment of the process applies to all parts. Program 1 eligibility can change.
“It’s a very involved process when it comes to going through and understanding PSM. It’s pretty common in plants but is not common in our industry at all.” ♦