One of the questions I get often is “What if an OSHA standard says one thing and my fire code says something else?” First, let me say I am so pleased when I get this question as it means there’s a business utilizing the fire code; as so many do not even know it exist. But to answer the question, OSHA standards rule the rooster in most states (notice I said “most”). For example, in the state of Ohio the revised code states:
This code shall not be construed to: (emphasis added by me)
- Cause an employer, in complying with it, to be in violation of the “Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970,” 84 Stat. 1590, 29 U.S.C.A. 2051;
- Regulate manufacturers or manufacturing facilities with respect to occupational hazards where they are subject to regulation by the federal occupational safety and health administration;
- Be inconsistent with, or in conflict with, regulations of the federal occupational safety and health administration or the hazardous materials regulations of the hazardous materials regulations board of the federal highway administration, United States department of transportation, or the public utilities commission;
- Establish a minimum standard of flammability for consumer goods in any area where the “Flammable Fabrics Act,” 81 Stat. 568 (1967), 15 USC 1191 authorizes the federal government or any department or agency of the federal government to establish national standards of flammability for consumer goods;
- Establish health or safety standard for the use of explosives in mining, for which the federal government through its authorized agency sets health or safety standards pursuant to section 6 of the “Federal Metal and Nonmetallic Mine Safety Act of 1966,” 80 Stat. 772, 30 USC 725, or section 101 of the “Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969,” 83 Stat. 745, 30 USC 811.
The non-revised International Fire Code (IFC) does NOT make reference to OSHA, since it is an international code; however, most states (notice I said “most”) have similar language so as to not cause a conflict between the I-codes and OSHA standards.
Personally I like to use the fire codes as my “base line” safety efforts and build from there; however, since many of the OSHA standards are 30+ years old now, we can often times find more protective requirements in the IFC/IMC/IBC. So if you’re lucky to be at a business that views OSHA as the “baseline” and they want to be better than the “bare minimum” we can often times find better guidance in the IFC/IMC/IBC.
If you’re at a facility that has a process which falls under OSHA’s PSM or EPA’s RMP then by all means, I view these adopted codes as an ABSOLUTELY REQUIREMENT until we have a RAGAGEP in place that is more protective. For example, where we build our new/expanded process (e.g. facility siting) should be based on distances we find in our fire codes/NFPA codes. So before we even begin engineering design, someone should look at quantities of the hazardous materials within the process and establish the distances we need from property lines, important buildings, roads, etc. which is all spelled out in the fire code(s).
But to be strictly compliance driven… if OSHA has already established a distance (even if it is based on 1960’s thinking) a facility would be allowed to meet that distance and NOT the more recent distances published in the most recent state fire code. I know, it sort of defies safety logic, but this is why we MUST view codes and standards as ONLY a building block within our safety efforts and not the whole sum of our efforts.
“We don’t do safety to satisfy a government agency, we use the government agency to help us satisfy our employee’s safety!”
Bryan Haywood