Understanding the Impact of New Process Safety Management Regulations on the Pulp and Paper Industry, 1992 Environmental Conference Proceedings

Due to many catastrophic accidents at industrial facilities around the country, regulators and lawmakers have adopted a number of standards designed to ensure better management of highly hazardous chemicals through implementation of effective process safety management programs. It is believed that implementation of these process safety management programs and procedures will enable affected establishments to prevent the occurrence, and minimize the consequences, of significant releases of toxic substances as well as fires, explosions, and other types of catastrophic accidents. While many initially thought that only the chemical process industries would be affected, many industries, including the pulp and paper industry, will be directly affected. OSHA’s new Process Safety Management Regulation, scheduled to take effect in March of 1992, as well as provisions under the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act, will have a tremendous effect on the way pulp and paper mills operate.

There are a number of factors that managers must consider in complying with these standards. Many elements of process safety already exist at mills and merely need to be upgraded. In some cases, programs need to be developed from scratch. Regardless of the current status, the need for integration of safety, environmental, operational, and maintenance functions has never been greater.

The purpose of this paper is to provide pulp and paper industry managers with a basic understanding of these new requirements, demonstrate the benefits that can be derived, and present various approaches for compliance that do not duplicate existing programs or result in waste of scarce resources.