In This Edition: (Click on Bullet to Jump to Story)

  EPA News:  President Bush Sends Persistent Organic Pollutants Pact to Senate

  OSHA News:  OSHA Targets 3,000 High Injury Worksites for Inspection

  CSB News:  CSB to Scale Back Outreach Activities, release Reactive Chemical Hazards Study

   Industry Focus:   
          1.  OSHA Interpretations: Emergency Response Planning – Employee Alarm Systems

  Resources:  
           1.   Paper:  Security of Chemicals in a New Era 

           2.   New Publication, Detonation and Detonation Flame Arrestors, Available from CCPS Website

  Incident News:  
           1.   Monthly Summary of Incidents, March 21, 2002 - April 18, 2002

  Events Update:  
           1.    NPRA/API National Safety Conference, May 15-17, 2002, San Antonio, TX.

           2.    NFPA World Safety Conference and Exhibition, May 19-23, 2002, Minneapolis, MN.

           3.    International Energy Insurance Forum, July 3-5, 2002, London, U.K.

           4.    CCPS International Conference and Workshop on Risk, Reliability, and Security, October 8-11, 2002 Jacksonville, FL

   Other ATI Offers Courses in Crisis Management & Plant Security  

President Bush Sends Persistent Organic Pollutants Pact to Senate 
President Bush has sent the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants to the U.S. Senate for ratification.  The Stockholm Convention targets twelve toxic chemicals which persist in the environment for long periods of time, accumulate in the food chain, and travel great distances. The twelve POPs include certain pesticides, industrial chemicals and unintended byproducts of combustion such as DDT, PCBs and dioxin.   Critics contend that the Treaty's effect has been reduced by Bush since language for allowing new chemicals to be added to the list has been dropped.   The disputed provision would allow adding to the list of chemicals to be banned, but only after a rigorous scientific review involving analysis and recommendation by a science committee and approval by a majority of nations involved.  Regulators dropped the provision to increase probability of ratification in  the Senate.

Find more details of the EPA Press Release at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/headline_041102.htm, or from Yahoo!^©News at  http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020415/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_toxic_chemicals_14

OSHA Targets 3,000 High Injury Worksites for Inspection in 2002
OSHA has announced that they will target high injury rate worksites for inspection in 2002.  "High injury and illness rates have a significant personal impact on workers, and are an added financial burden to employers," said OSHA Administrator John Henshaw.  "By focusing on worksites with the highest rates, we can target our inspection and enforcement resources where they are most needed and where they will have the most benefit."

Employers who reported 14 or more injuries or illnesses that resulted in lost work days or restricted activity for every 100 full-time workers can anticipate an inspection sometime over the next year. Employers who reported at least eight, but less than 14, injuries or illnesses, are placed on a secondary list for possible inspection only. 

 For full text of the official OSHA press release, go to http://www.osha.gov/media/oshnews/apr02/trade-20020416.html.

CSB to Scale Back Outreach Activities, release Reactive Chemical Hazards Study
In recent meetings, the Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) announced, among other things, that they would reduce outreach activities and release the first study on reactive chemical hazards.  The cutting of outreach activities drew criticism from many industry associations.  The associations claimed such cuts would jeopardize interactive activities from which they claim provide a platform for cross industry discussions and policy growth.  The Board also announced that it no longer plans on establishing an office of prevention, outreach, and policy.  The reactives study, which will be available in a public hearing in the near future, should provide industry and regulators more comprehensive data for the treatment of reactives, currently not specifically covered by OSHA PSM or other regulations.

Stay tuned to AcuSafe News for more information about CSB activities.

PSM Interpretations - Emergency Response Planning –  Employee Alarm Systems
AcuSafe presents the seventh installment in a series of feature articles entitled "PSM Interpretations."  In this edition of AcuSafe News, we present a summary of interpretations about applying to Employee Alarm Systems in chemical plants and oil refineries.  Find this AcuSafe feature at  http://www.acusafe.com/Newsletter/Stories/0402NewsPart7Interpretations.htm.

Paper: Security of Chemicals in a New Era 
With the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the United States entered a new era. Lawrence Stanton, a chemical security specialist, has generously agreed to share his views on an approach to addressing chemical security. The focus is on preventing the use of industrial chemicals as weapons against the public. Lawrence Stanton is a full time security practitioner with a major international chemical company.  He is both a Certified Fraud Examiner and a Certified Protection Professional.  He has been in the security profession within the chemical industry for approximately 15 years.  He is a retired United States Marine Corps Officer, having served 22 years in the Infantry and Intelligence fields.    

Read this contributor's paper at http://www.acusafe.com/Newsletter/Stories/AcuSafe - Security of Chemicals in a New Era.pdf

New Publication, Detonation and Detonation Flame Arrestors, Available from CCPS Website
This new book, by Stanley S. Grossell, discusses the theory behind flame arrestors, how to select the proper arrestor for the application, and how to size the appropriate arrestor. Worked examples are provided. 

For additional information, see http://www.aiche.org/ccps/products  and enter the keywords "flame arrestor"

Monthly Summary of Incidents, March 21, 2002 - April 18, 2002
We collect stories about major spills and releases from around the globe. This month's installment summarizes a total of 17 incidents brought to our attention between March 21, 2001 and April 18, 2002. Most of the incidents covered have caused significant injury, deaths, or major property damage. Accidents in China, Kuwait, Russia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Australia, Morocco, Lebanon, Japan, and the U.S. are represented.  We welcome input to this effort by submitting summaries of other notable events to editor@acusafe.com.

NFPA World Safety Conference and Exhibition, May 19-23, 2002, Minneapolis, MN.
The 2002 World Safety Conference & Exposition will provide safety professionals with fire protection and life safety information and professional development opportunities.
Click link below for details
http://www.nfpa.org/ProfessionalDev/EventsCalendar/EventsCalendar.asp

International Energy Insurance Forum,  July 3-5, 2002, London, U.K.
AcuTech's David Moore and other industry professionals will speak at this forum for the onshore oil, gas, and energy sectors.
Click link below for details
http://www.acusafe.com/Newsletter/Supplemental/EL1044 - Energy Insurance.pdf

CCPS International Conference and Workshop on Risk, Reliability, and Security, October 8-11, 2002 Jacksonville, FL.
This year's conference will highlight the latest developments in the technical and management aspects of Risk, Reliability, and Security and explore synergies between these fields. The conference will also feature keynote and luncheon addresses by internationally prominent speakers, opportunities to network with leading practitioners.
For more information go to http://www.aiche.org/ccps/icw  or call 212-591-7319. 

The 2-day course provides a thorough overview of crisis and emergency planning related to large-scale releases of
chemicals from process facilities. Among the topics covered include: current federal laws and regulations related to crisis management planning, overview of the proposed Chemical Security Act, how to conduct a plant security hazard assessment, development of crisis management and emergency response plans, emergency training, public relations, media issues, risk communications during emergencies and plant security issues at process facilities. Participants will develop the knowledge to develop and implement such programs at their own facilities. Attendance would benefit environmental and safety professionals, plant managers, operations and maintenance managers/supervisors, emergency response personnel and RMP coordinators. Best practices, garnered from actual successful programs, will be highlighted.

For pricing information, course descriptions, a course schedule, and biographies of AcuTech course instructors, please read our full brochure at http://www.acutech-consulting.com/training/ATI_2002FullSchedule.PDF.