Unit V Research Paper

OSHA issued the Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals Standard (PSM) (29 CFR 1910.119) which

contains requirements for the safe management of chemicals for companies that exceed OSHA’s threshold quantities for

highly hazardous substances. This standard requires the establishment of a management program that includes

conducting process hazard analyses, establishing detailed operating procedures, and includes other important

requirements to mitigate the possibility of a serious, chemical related incident occurring at the facility.

For this assignment, suppose you are a safety manager at a chemical manufacturing facility that manufactures

concentrated nitric acid. You have heard that employees who load nitric acid into rail tank cars have been checking the preinspection

checklist from the rail shipping office instead of actually inspecting the vehicles with the checklist in hand as

OSH 3640, Interactions of Hazardous Materials 2

required by the operating procedure. This has not been the first time the shipping crew has been lax about process safety

related work rules. Based on this scenario, please compose a research paper which includes the following information:

Identify the chemical properties, uses, and primary hazards associated with common oxidizers including concentrated

nitric acid.

Identify important occupational exposure limits (OELs) associated with at least 3 common oxidizers.

Identify PSM requirements that would be useful for preventing or minimizing the consequences of a significant oxidizer

related incident.

Using the OSHA Standard and your own experience, justify and validate the importance of the PSM standard to your

facility (if it stores and processes highly hazardous materials) or a facility that may impact your community or a near-by

community. Examples might include a water treatment facility that utilizes liquefied chlorine gas, a coal fired power plant

that utilizes liquefied chlorine gas for water treatment, a food processing plant with a large ammonia refrigeration system,

a fertilizer manufacturing or storage facility, a chemical manufacturing facility, etc..

Your research paper must be at least two pages in length. You are required to cite the OSHA Standard 29 CFR 1910.119 in

your response as well as at least two other sources, one of which must be the Waldorf Online Library. All sources used,

including the textbook, must be referenced. Paraphrased and/or quoted materials must have accompanying citations in APA

format.