BOS 3640 Interaction of Hazardous Materials. Question 1
Review Appendix A of OSHA’s Process Safety Management (PSM) Standard 29 CFR 1910.119 and determine if your workplace has any chemicals that exceed the Threshold Quantity (TQ) identified in this table. Reflect on how your workplace uses aspects of the PSM to ensure a safe workplace? Do you think that the measures at your workplace achieve safety or merely keep the facility in compliance?
Your journal entry must be at least 200 words. No references or citations are necessary.
Question 2
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 pre-inspection checklist from the rail shipping office instead of actually inspecting the vehicles with the checklist in hand as 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 come from the CSU Online Library. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced. Paraphrased and/or quoted materials must have accompanying citations in APA format.
Question 3
Do you live in an area where hydraulic fracturing takes place? What is your position on the health hazards associated with this technology? Do you agree that current regulations are protective to the environment (groundwater) and human health? Why, or why not?
Your journal entry must be at least 200 words. No references or citations are necessary.
Question 4
Your company has been contracted to assess and cleanup a site that previously had a manufacturing facility for an organochlorine pesticide (i.e., aldrin, chlordane, dieldrin, eldrin, or heptachlor). You are tasked with shipping these wastes off-site to a treatment, storage, disposal facility (TSDF) for disposal.
Review the information found in the 16-point GHS SDS for at least two of the organochlorine pesticides detailed in this question. Describe how you would prepare for transport of these materials and ensure proper shipping documentation based on DOT regulations (hazard class, descriptions, labels, markings, and placards). Describe the importance of having these regulations in place when transporting hazardous materials.
In the event that there is an emergency release of the material while being transported, describe the chemical properties, uses, and ill effects that first responders may encounter upon arrival to the scene.
Summarize the information found in the SDS, and explain how that information prepares EHS and FS professionals to assess and mitigate workplace hazards related to organochlorine pesticides during the assessment and cleanup phases of the project.
Your essay must be at least one page in length. You are required to cite the relevant SDS in your response as well as at least one other sources. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced. Paraphrased and/or quoted materials must have accompanying citations in APA format.
