Volume 2, Issue 11, November/December 2000, David M. Garcia, Editor

Welcome to AcuSafe News -- The electronic newsletter devoted to serving industry, government, and interested members of the public by providing  process safety practices, incident news, lessons learned, and regulatory developments.

AcuSafe News is an extension of the AcuSafe website (http://www.acusafe.com/), the Internet resource for safety and risk management information, products, training, and professional exchange. We hope you visit the website and find AcuSafe News and the AcuSafe site to be valuable tools. AcuSafe.com and AcuSafe News is presented to you by AcuTech Consulting, Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of  Geosphere Systems. In observance of the holiday season in December, this will be a double issue. Be sure to watch for us again when the January 2001 issue comes out and the new millennium really begins. 

 

In This Issue


  OSHA News:  OSHA Issues Final Ergonomics Program Rule
  CSB News:  President Clinton Nominates Lois Epstein to the Board
  Hot Topics:  Process Safety Metrics: Taking PSM to the Next Level & AIChE's ProSmart Software
  Industry Focus: American Chemistry Council Releases Process Safety Code Performance Measures for its 190 Members from 1996 - 1999 
  Resources:  
           1.  Process Safety and Consequence Analysis Publications Now May be Purchased at AcuSafe
           2.  Risk Assessment Comparison Tool (CARAT) Now Available on the Internet
           3.  Quantified safety performance data from the CAER conference
           4.  Nevada Chemical Accident Prevention Program Audit Guidance
           5.  Chemical Accident Investigation and Management in Korea

  Incident News: Monthly Summary of Incidents, October 14, 2000 - November 15, 2000
  Events Update:  
           The Millennium 2000 HazMat Explo, Las Vegas, NV, December 11-15, 2000
           
  Politics & Legislation: 
           U.S. DOT Passes Pipeline Safety Rule Following the Defeat of Comprehensive Legislation


 

Story Abstracts
OSHA News
OSHA Issues Final Ergonomics Rule  
On November 14, 2000, OSHA published its final Ergonomics Rule. With an effective date that some feel was calculated to take place shortly before the next President takes office and facing stiff opposition from industry, the rule is intended to create greater awareness about musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and their cause and symptoms, creates a process where employees may alert employers to problems they are having, and requires a management system and evaluation process for coping with job-related MSDs. For more detail about the new changes and where to go for more resources, please read our feature story. 
 
 
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Chemical Safety Board News
President Clinton Nominates Lois Epstein to the Board
On October 20, 2000 President Clinton nominated Lois Epstein to the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB). The change came just days after Dr. Paul Hill resigned after having served on the board since its inception. For biographical details of Ms. Epstein and more information about the next steps in the process, please read the full story.

 


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Hot Topics
Process Safety Metrics: Taking PSM to the Next Level & AIChE's ProSmart Software
As many companies enter 2001, they are making plans for their triannual PSM/RMP compliance audits. It is timely during this process to reflect on methods for measuring process safety effectiveness. While there have been real efforts and successes in reducing actual losses and process risks, we should consider shifting our sights from strictly compliance issues to overall process safety effectiveness, and finding a method for pinpointing where program deficiencies have the greatest impact on safety. For a discussion about metrics that that measure how each PSM component affects the strength of the entire program, please read our feature article. It includes an interview with Bob G. Perry, Staff Consultant for AIChE's Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) about their ProSmart software, which is designed to do just that. He describes the software components, how it will benefit industry, and its release date.

 
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Industry Focus
American Chemistry Council Releases Process Safety Code Performance Measures for its 190 Members from 1996 - 1999
The American Chemistry Council tabulates the incident history of its members and has consented to share some of their results. Please read the full story with the number of total reported incidents, the number of incidents with offsite impacts, and current trends.  

 
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Resources
Process Safety and Consequence Analysis Publications Now May be Purchased at AcuSafe
E-commerce is coming to AcuSafe!  As part of our efforts to constantly improve AcuSafe.com, we have added publications that we feel would be of interest to our members. These books include those published by AIChE and by many other reputable process safety and risk management professionals. These materials may be located in their respective topical categories, such as Process Safety Management, Emergency Response, Risk Management, and Consequence Modeling. A complete list is also available.

  
Risk Assessment Comparison Tool (CARAT) Now Available on the Internet
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has made their Chemical Accident Risk Assessment Thesaurus (CARAT) available via the Internet. CARAT allows you to compare risk assessment requirements applicable to chemical facilities located in various countries. In the U.S., State agencies can use CARAT to compare state regulations to the EPA's RMP Program. You can access the thesaurus at: http://www.epa.gov/ceppo/ip-inpa.htm.  


Quantified safety performance data from the CAER conference
The International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) has released its status report on the Responsible Care program for the year 2000. Responsible Care is a global initiative to continuously improve the chemical industry's health, safety, and environmental performance for the benefit of workers, the community, and others. National chemical associations in 46 countries have now embraced this program. A full report (.PDF, 1,267K) is available with the implementation status among member countries, a pollutant release and transfer register, voluntary actions on products, and summaries for selected country's activities. 

Nevada Chemical Accident Prevention Program Audit Guidance
Nevada's Chemical Accident Prevention Program (CAPP) Audit Guidance and Checklist for some elements is available at http://www.state.nv.us/ndep/bwm/capguid.htm. The site now contains audit checklists for facility and substance information, process safety information (PSI), process hazards analysis (PHA), standard operating procedures (SOPs), and training.

Chemical Accident Investigation and Management in Korea
Kyo-Shik Park and En Sup Yoon of the Korea Gas Safety Corporation shared a very interesting presentation on chemical accident investigation and management in Korea. The presentation introduces the regulations and government entities that are relevant in Korea, the refinery and petrochemical industries of the country, and investigation procedures used there. For those of you interested in comparing notes with your own programs, please read the full presentation (.PPT, 135K)

 
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Incident News
Monthly Summary of Accidents Involving Process Chemicals or Flammable Materials 
As a service for our readers, we collect and share incident news. This month's installment covers incidents brought to our attention between October 14 and November 15. Most of the incidents covered have caused significant injury, deaths, or major property damage. This month's issue includes accidents in Nigeria, Canada, South Korea, United Kingdom, France, India, Russia, Australia, and the U.S. We welcome input to this effort by submitting summaries of other notable events to editor@acusafe.com.
 
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Events Update
The Millennium 2000 HazMat Explo, Las Vegas, NV, December 11-15, 2000
Millennium 2000 HazMat Explo is a hazardous materials training conference which will be taking place at the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas from December 11-15, 2000. Major topic areas include Industry, Medical, Radiological, LEPC, First Responder and Environmental. It is being presented by the Clark County, Nevada LEPC under the auspices of US DOT, FEMA, EPA, Nevada SERC, the Nevada Association of Counties, Nevada Division of Emergency Management and US DOE, Las Vegas Office. Fore more information, please visit their web site at http://www.hazmatexplo.org/pages/BFrames.html AcuTech Consulting will be on hand as course instructors for the PHA for Team Leaders course. 

 
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Politics and Legislation
U.S. DOT Issues Pipeline Safety Rule Following the Defeat of Comprehensive Legislation
On November 3, 2000, the US DOT proposed requiring most oil and hazardous liquid pipeline operators to test their lines every five years to make sure they are safe. The proposed rule, which is expected to become final in January, covers 87% of the nation's oil and natural gas pipelines. This rulemaking comes just weeks after the U.S. Senate defeated comprehensive pipeline safety legislation. Further details about the proposed rule and a copy of the text are available on AcuSafe. 
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