제 목 : Reopening PSM Standard: Opening a Can of Worms?
일 자 : 1997년 07월
제공처 : Safety ＆ health
OSHA plans to reopen in June or July its Process Safety Management
Standard, which has received its share of criticism.
The standard, mandated by Congress under the l990 Clean Air Act
amendments, covers almost 140 hazardous chemicals, flammables and
explosives. But it doesn't cover a specific group of reactive chemicals
that become especially hazardous when mixed. OSHA's focus on this latter
group resulted from a l995 explosion in a New Jersey chemical plant that
killed five workers.
The agency was criticized for its handling of the New Jersey case,
since it was limited to propose a fine of only $200,000, despite the five
deaths. To get a larger penalty, OSHA would have had to prove willful
violation, which was not possible since the chemicals were not on the PSM
list.
Another reason to reopen the rule is to harmonize OSHA's list of
chemicals with that of the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA list
contains a number of chemicals that OSHA's doesn't, ant the two lists have
different thresh olds for some substances.
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