Hazmat Process Safety

IRWIN assists clients in implementing process safety with the support of our chemical engineers who have experience with and understanding of hazardous manufacturing processes as well as knowledge of environmental regulatory requirements. In this area IRWIN provides the following services:

1. Process Safety Inspections – A facility walk through and review of operations with fresh eyes can uncover risks associated with current systems or practices.

2. Process Safety Information – Having adequate process safety information is fundamental to evaluation of process risks. Evaluations of currently available information for characterizing present hazards can include: process design basis, P&ID drawings, SOPs for routine and non-routine operations, emergency vent sizing, chemical reaction data, and chemical hazard interaction matrices.

3. Code Review – We provide systematic evaluations of existing individual processes or proposed changes to NFPA Codes and to other recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices (RAGAGEP) to identify opportunities for safety improvements.

4. Process Hazard Assessment (PHA) – IRWIN works with clients to choose PHA methods appropriate to the scale and complexity of the operation under review. We have experience in successfully facilitating evaluations of process safety with plant engineering and operating personnel that keep participants engaged.

5. Contingency Planning – IRWIN can assist with your emergency preparedness by reviewing systems and procedures for avoiding process upsets and contingency measures for containment or mitigation in the event a deviation results in an incident.

6. Safety Management Systems – We review safety policy and program documentation for communication within your organization regarding the priority of safety and programs for management of change, preventive maintenance, incident response and root cause analysis, and regular checking and corrective action. This can also include assessment of attitudes toward safety through interviews or by anonymous survey.

REMINDERS:

Companies subject to OSHA PSM are required to update their Process Hazard Analyses every 3 years (29 CFR 1910.119(e)(6))
In Massachusetts we work with you to comply with 527 CMR 33.00 as well as applicable federal programs. In general, the MA regulation applies to facilities that process a material that has a rating of 3 or 4 for health (blue), flammability (red), or reactivity (yellow) on the NFPA diamond. Categories requiring permits are: facilities subject to OSHA PSM, facilities with a single processing vessel greater than 300 gallons, facilities with a processing vessel between 2.5 and 300 gallons.
Related Services: IRWIN Engineers, Inc. provides Environmental Compliance Auditing Services that may include safety regulations as audit criteria.