About this course
Facilities that store or use highly hazardous chemicals above threshold quantities — including many food and beverage plants that use anhydrous ammonia for refrigeration — fall under OSHA's Process Safety Management standard. This course gives engineers a working understanding of all 14 required elements of the program, how they connect to each other, and where engineering responsibilities sit within it.
The standard is OSHA 29 CFR 1910.119, Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals. It applies to processes involving any of the 137 chemicals listed in Appendix A at or above their threshold quantity, to processes with 10,000 pounds or more of a flammable liquid or gas on-site, and to explosives and pyrotechnics manufacturing. The 14 elements are: employee participation, process safety information, process hazard analysis, operating procedures, training, contractors, pre-startup safety review, mechanical integrity, hot work permit, management of change, incident investigation, emergency planning and response, compliance audits, and trade secrets. Process safety information — accurate documentation of the chemicals, technology, and equipment involved — underpins nearly every other element, since PHAs, operating procedures, and training programs all draw from it.
This course is intended for engineers, PSM coordinators, and technical staff responsible for implementing or maintaining any part of a facility's PSM program, particularly those working with ammonia refrigeration systems or other PSM-covered processes.
After completing this course, learners will be able to identify which of the 14 PSM elements applies to a given engineering task, explain how process safety information supports process hazard analysis and operating procedures, describe the purpose of mechanical integrity and pre-startup safety review, and recognize when a proposed change triggers the management of change procedure.
Topics covered
- PSM applicability thresholds and covered chemicals
- Process safety information as the foundation of the program
- Process hazard analysis, operating procedures, and training
- Mechanical integrity and pre-startup safety review
- Management of change and incident investigation
- Contractor requirements, emergency planning, and compliance audits
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