An OSHA
spokesperson announced today that the agency plans to expand its National
Emphasis Program (NEP) which targets process safety at chemical plants. The
current NEP was issued on July 27, 2009 and subsequently extended until
September 30, 2010. The recent announcement means that the NEP will remain in
place until the agency can establish a permanent directive which will expand the
program nationwide. The focus of the program is to reduce or eliminate workplace
hazards associated with catastrophic releases of highly hazardous chemicals. The
program was originally designed as a pilot program with programmed inspections
in Regions I, VII, and X, and unprogrammed inspections OSHA wide. The program is
applicable to facilities that process or use highly hazardous chemicals (HHCs)
in amounts at or greater than the threshold quantities listed in 29 CFR
1910.119. According to agency spokespersons, OSHA has issued over 600
violations, 86 percent of which were classified as either serious, willful,
repeat, failure-to-abate, or unclassified.
Facilities subject to OSHA's Process Safety Management Standard can expect an increased number of facility inspections as a part of this effort. Facilities can also expect a greater focus on implementation over documentation during the inspections. OSHA will primarily utilize the following four sources to help prioritize the list of facilities for inspections:
a) Facilities required to submit U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Chemical Accident Prevention Provisions, Program 3 Risk Management Plans (RMP)
b) Explosives manufacturing NAICS codes
c) Facilities identified in OSHA's IMIS database as having prior PSM related incidents
d) OSHA Area Office knowledge of local facilities.
