Special Report: OSHA Regulations

Upon the announcement of new OSHA regulations, it became increasingly clear that now, more than ever, plant management bears a huge responsibility for plant liability. The OSHA standard 1910.119 applies strict requirements to owner operators holding threshold quantities of any of the 140 toxic or highly hazardous chemicals on the OSHA schedule. This regulation also applies to plants holding more than 10,000 pounds of flammable hydrocarbons.

This standard affects the majority of process plants. A top priority in today's operating plant, configuration management keeps documentation accurate, accessible and current.

Noncompliance could result in a fine up to $70,000. It is a requirement of the new law to have all operating and safety procedures documented and up-to-date. A serious violation could result in a fine of up to $7,000 per violation. A criminal violation is considered to be any willful violation that has resulted in a death. As a result, a corporation could find themselves looking at fines in the million dollar range and jail terms could be imposed.

When you look at the fundamental requirements of OSHA 1910.119, most relate to documentation. For most large operations, this tremendous task can only be managed using electronic solutions. A company's CAD drawings are essential for documentation. They graphically describe the design parameters and instructions related to the plant, and are far easier to interpret than traditional written documents. Once a plant has been completed, CAD drawings provide a good foundation for document management.

Storing documents electronically can be achieved by implementing a good, low cost CAD system that can read a wide range of CAD standard formats. With the capability of accepting electronic documents, a company can save on drawing origination costs.

Another requirement of the new OSHA standard is accessibility. By networking your CAD systems and implementing viewing/plotting stations, information can be distributed plant-wide and company-wide, including departments that normally do not use CAD software. By OSHA requirements, documentation must be made available to all employees.

Workflow management offers more discipline in plant design projects. By adding change notes that reflect the intent of the modifications to a CAD drawing, companies are getting more than just history. This vital information helps reduce waste and errors while offering pertinent data for decision making.

As regulations evolve, owner/operators need the flexibility to expand their existing systems. A wise investment would be a highly adaptable, open system which allows for future customization and offers access to a variety of hardware platforms.