Are you an operator, maintenance or electrical technician, engineer, safety professional, or manager whose work assignments involve handling hazardous chemicals that are covered by OSHA’s Process Management (PSM) regulation?

Your introduction to PSM is an important consideration in helping to reduce and eventually eliminate you from becoming a statistic. Being introduced to PSM early in your career ensures you not only learn key process safety principals, become an immediate productive contributor, achieve process safety goals immediately, avoid potentially being exposed to hazards, and allow you to affectively execute tasks in a safe manner.

Upon successful completion of Process Safety Management – Manager, participants will possess awareness and basic understanding of PSM and will understand how each element of the PSM standard applies to them. They will:

– Understand the history behind PSM and the application of the PSM regulation
– Become knowledgeable of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Risk Management Plan (RPM) regulation and application
– Understand Employee Participation
– Learn the importance of Process Safety Information
– Become knowledgeable of the Process Hazard Analysis (PHA)
– Learn the elements of Operating Procedures
– Learn what key safe work practices are needed
– Understand training requirements
– Gain an awareness of contractor responsibilities and other requirements
– Learn what Management of Change (MOC) is and the purpose of Pre-Startup and Safety Reviews
– Understand the purpose and application of Mechanical Integrity
– Identify the hazards of hot work
– Learn the importance of Incident Reporting and Investigations
– Understand Emergency Response
– Become aware of the importance of compliance audits and the purpose of PSM trade secrets

Those that have experienced OSHA arriving at the facility unannounced will tell you that it can be somewhat intimidating, but it does not need to be. Regardless of whether your facility believes they are fully compliant, or there are known gaps, there are several of things you can do to minimize the number of citations you may receive and make the experience much less stressful. Achieving better results from an OSHA inspection begins with understanding why OSHA is at your facility, knowing what to expect during the inspection process, how to respond and interact with OSHA compliance officers, and how to engage in a closing and in an informal conference.