OSHA will hold an informal virtual stakeholder meeting on Oct. 12 to discuss a rulemaking project on the agency’s process safety management (PSM) standard. The agenda includes a brief update on OSHA’s work on the PSM rulemaking project and an opportunity for stakeholders to make public comments related to potential changes to the standard.

Unchanged since it was originally published in 1992, the PSM standard requires employers to implement safety programs to identify, evaluate and control highly hazardous chemicals. While most OSHA standards are prescriptive in nature, the PSM standard is performance-based. It outlines 14 management system elements employers can use to control highly hazardous chemicals, and it gives employers the flexibility to tailor their programs based on facility-specific conditions.

According to the agency, specific issues of interest include:

1. Clarifying the exemption for atmospheric storage tanks;
2. Expanding the scope to include oil-and gas-well drilling and servicing;
3. Resuming enforcement for oil and gas production facilities;
4. Expanding coverage and requirements for reactive chemical hazards;
5. Updating and expanding the list of highly hazardous chemicals in Appendix A;
6. Amending the Explosives and Blasting Agents Standard to extend PSM requirements to cover dismantling and disposal of explosives and pyrotechnics;
7. Clarifying the scope of the retail facilities exemption;
8. Defining the limits of a PSM-covered process.

To attend the meeting or provide public comment, you need to register in advance online.

You may also submit written comments by Nov. 14, 2022, via the federal eRulemaking portal. Be sure to reference docket number OSHA-2013-0020 in your comments.