The oil and gas industry can be highly hazardous due to the nature of the product involved – inflammable liquid and gas. In addition, the equipment and materials used in the industry can also cause serious injuries that can sometimes become fatal.
Considering the risks, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) emphasizes the need for Process Safety Management3 (29 CFR 1910.119) to specifically tackle safety risks associated with hazardous chemicals and materials.
Process Safety Management refers to incidents on a larger scale and includes disasters such as explosions and oil spills. It also requires higher-level interventions. In other words, process vs. occupational safety can be understood as the difference between what is being done vs. how it is being done.
The first PSM requirements came about in 1992, following major incidents caused by highly hazardous chemicals (HHCs). Since then, OSHA has updated and expanded the compliance requirements several times, and process safety has become a critical requirement in any sector that uses or produces HHCs.
Given the complexity of Process Safety Management and the highly hazardous nature of the chemicals it addresses; it requires a multidimensional approach to mitigate the risks. Without a modern, next generation EHS Solution to automate and streamline PSM workflows, the whole process can become challenging.
In this whitepaper, we talk about:
- Process safety vs. occupational safety
- The 14 elements of the PSM program
- Implementing process safety management
- And more
