OSHA Schedules Stakeholder Meeting to Provide Overview of Process Safety Management Rulemaking Project

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration will hold a virtual informal stakeholder meeting to seek public comments on potential changes to the Process Safety Management standard. The meeting will be held on Oct. 12, 2022, a change from the original scheduled date of Sept. 28, 2022.

OSHA is considering several potential changes to the scope and provisions of the current PSM standard. The agency will provide a brief overview of its work on the PSM rulemaking project before hearing public comments. Read the Federal Register notice for the full list of potential changes to the PSM standard.

The meeting will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. EDT via Webex. Register online to attend the meeting or provide verbal comments. The public may also submit written comments to the Federal eRulemaking Portal using Docket Number OSHA-2013-0020. Written comments are due by Nov. 14, 2022.

OSHA published its PSM standard in 1992 in response to several catastrophic chemical-release incidents that occurred worldwide. The standard requires employers to implement safety programs that identify, evaluate and control highly hazardous chemicals.

The standard is performance-based and outlines 14 management system elements for controlling highly hazardous chemicals. Employers have the flexibility to tailor their PSM programs to the unique conditions at their facilities.

Signed in 2013, Executive Order 13650 directed OSHA and several other federal agencies to modernize policies, regulations and standards to enhance safety and security in chemical facilities by completing certain tasks. In keeping with the executive order, OSHA published a Request for Information in December 2013, and completed a Small Business Advocacy Review Panel in June 2016.

Learn more about process safety management.

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