Implementing and using an OSHA inspection checklist are an integral component of helping employees comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). This checklist can be implemented across industries.
Random inspections can pop up at any time, so it is critical that all necessary records be easily accessible and organized.
Process Safety Management (PSM)
OSHA established the Process Safety Management standard (PSM) after several tragic chemical accidents occurred during the 1980s, in order to help companies avoid mishandling of hazardous chemicals. The PSM regulation applies to any company dealing with over 130 specific toxic, reactive and flammable chemicals in quantities exceeding 10,000 pounds. Under this regulation, it is required of each chemical producer and user to conduct an in-depth review of its technology, safety information, hazard diagrams or simplified process drawings, process chemistry information and safe upper and lower limits for temperature, pressures, flows or composition as well as maximum inventories intended. Furthermore, any risks resulting from accidental mixing between multiple chemicals must also be assessed and addressed in full.
OSHA’s CSHOs conducting inspections under this National Emphasis Program will focus their evaluation of employer compliance with PSM inspection priority items contained in this Instruction. In order to protect hazard conditions or violations at a facility from being identified publicly by OSHA inspectors conducting this NEP, no Dynamic Master and Primary PSM IPI Lists used by inspectors during this inspection NEP will be publicly released by OSHA.
Emergency Planning
Compliance Safety and Health Officers (CSHOs), are authorized representatives from OSHA that conduct random workplace inspections in order to detect violations. Employees should prepare themselves for these visits by making records readily accessible for inspection. Furthermore, procedures should be in place so they may meet and accompany inspectors during facility walkthrough.
Emergency plans must include both technological and natural threats. While natural disasters tend to be unpredictable, some precautionary steps can be taken with advance notice such as providing sandbags or moving equipment into safer places, stockpiling extra power, light, or water supplies and moving personnel with special skills into more suitable positions.
These types of checklists and processes can easily be made accessible to refinery employees via mobile apps, ensuring greater compliance and helping enhance workplace safety. Being prepared can save lives while limiting property damage.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
PPE refers to equipment worn to reduce exposure to workplace hazards that pose the greatest risks, namely serious injuries and illnesses. PPE includes clothing, helmets, face and eye protection devices, gloves and shoes. However, for PPE to be most effective it must be used correctly by employees who understand its purpose as well as any limitations it might impose upon use or maintenance and disposal requirements.
Gloves and gowns provide workers with protection from touching potentially contaminated materials or surfaces while surgical masks filter airborne pathogens. Shoes and head covers prevent contamination of personal clothing while earplugs or muffs block out loud noises. Hard hats and coveralls protect their heads and bodies against falling debris or vapors.
Of course, providing and maintaining PPE comes at a cost, but accidents or illnesses far surpass it. Employers are required by law to provide employees with appropriate PPE for job-related hazards.
Hazard Communication
As a chemical facility, an oil refinery must comply with Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) guidelines to ensure employee and contractor safety. HCS mandates written programs, risk analyses and training for workers handling chemicals.
A written program should include an inventory of all chemicals found in the workplace, from process chemicals to cleaning agents. This inventory should be regularly updated as chemicals change. Each chemical container should display a label identifying it, outlining its hazards and providing standard warnings – these labels must be clear and easy to read, with pictograms designed to convey potential dangers such as toxic, flammable or corrosive materials.
An enforcement officer under the HCS NEP will inspect your program, chemical inventory and training records as well as employee access to safety data sheets to identify any deficiencies that warrant citation or fines.