Many consumers may have never heard of “nitriding”, but just about every metal component in heavy equipment will go through a “nitriding process” to strengthen the metal. And it is this nitriding process that many businesses have a HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL/PROPRIETARY blend for their process. Seems everyone has a slightly different blend and they hold this recipe near and dear as a “competitive advantage”, and rightly so. But it is this “blending” that creates NEW chemicals by a disassociation process and then some of these new chemicals are blended with other chemicals (i.e. mixture) which in some cases can have entirely different hazards requiring us to have additional Safety Data Sheets (SDS) and training. I deal with a lot of Nitriding Processes because many use Anhydrous Ammonia as their feedstock. Yes, many of these nitriding processes are PSM and RMP covered processes, but it is the basic HAZCOM aspect I want to discuss in this article.
When Anhydrous Ammonia (NH3) is heated to around 850°F, the bonds between the Nitrogen and Hydrogen are broken. It is the Nitrogen we want for the “nitriding process” and the hydrogen is oftentimes vented to the atmosphere, but a few clients are now capturing the hydrogen for other uses or just cost savings. By the way, most businesses use NH3 and the disassociation process rather than buying pure nitrogen as it is much cheaper to breakdown NH3 for the N2 than it is to by pure N2. But the fact of the matter is, with this disassociation of NH3…
we have JUST CREATED two (2) NEW Hazardous Chemicals and thus we will need an SDS for the Hydrogen and the Nitrogen (as well as training on the hazards these chemicals present in their pure forms).
The nitrogen is sometimes used as pure nitrogen in the heat treating process; however, some businesses will mix the Nitrogen with other chemicals to make a proprietary blend for their heat treating, yet another a need for another SDS for this blend.
In fact, some businesses will not even use the disassociation process and will just blend the NH3 gas with other chemicals to make their blend, and this too will require a new SDS.
Here is OSHA’s take on these “blends” that are occurring on a plant site:
NOTE: this LOI is discussing blending “fertilizers”, but you can get the gist.
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Background: Agricultural retailers that resell fertilizers to farmers do not consider themselves manufacturers. In most cases, retailers provide their farmers with “custom blends,” comprised of multiple nutrients that bridge the gap between soil nutrients levels and nutritional requirements of specific crops. The custom fertilizer blends prepared by agricultural retailers are either dry bulk blends or blends of nutrients in aqueous solutions. No chemical reaction takes place when a blend is prepared. Most fertilizer blends have the same hazard characteristics, for example, eye or skin irritant. In most cases farmers will call in their “custom blend” order the same day they pick it up, which can be in as little as 30 minutes from the time they place the order. These “just in time” blends are loaded directly in a truck trailer, and then taken directly to the farm, where they are loaded in the applicator and applied to the field for which it was prescribed. It is our understanding that because blending is considered production, the HCS requirements for preparing an individual SDS and label are triggered and as such, would be required for each custom blend. We were informed that OSHA would be willing to accept a “generic” SDS to cover custom blended fertilizers with a broad range of component parts, provided the hazards had not changed as a result of the blend. Question 1: Is custom blending of fertilizer (i.e., where no chemical reaction occurs and no new hazards are created ), where the blend is immediately loaded for transportation to the end user (i.e., the farmer), considered “chemical manufacturing,” or “producing,” triggering the HCS requirements for labeling and generating SDSs? Response: Yes. Paragraph (c) defines “chemical manufacturer” as “an employer with a workplace where chemical(s) are produced for use or distribution,” and defines “produce” as “to manufacture, process, formulate, blend, extract, generate, emit, or repackage.” Accordingly, blending fertilizer is “producing” a chemical under the HCS, with all attendant classifying, labeling, and SDS requirements. See 29 CFR 1910.1200(b)(1), (f)(1), (g)(1). |
From OSHA’s HAZCOM CPL (CPL 02-02-079, Inspection Procedures for the Hazard Communication Standard(HCS 2012)
- A company that repackages, blends, mixes, or otherwise changes the composition of a chemical is considered a chemical manufacturer under the HCS.
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- Employees in these operations are considered to use hazardous chemicals.
- Under these conditions, the distributor will not be able to claim the sealed container provision in paragraph (b)(4) and will need to meet all applicable provisions of the HCS for manufacturers.
- Employees in these operations are considered to use hazardous chemicals.
And we don’t really get an “out” from these requirements because the blending is happening in a “closed system/process”, as we have to take into account OSHA’s “foreseeable emergency” position…
The HCS applies to any hazardous chemical present in the workplace in a manner that employees may be exposed under normal conditions of use AND FORESEEABLE EMERGENCIES. The manufacturer or importer must provide the information required by the standard on any hazardous chemicals which they manufacture or import. This information must cover the normal conditions of use and FORESEEABLE EMERGENCIES of the product. A manufacturer or importer is out of compliance if it does not provide hazard information on a known use or should have reasonably been expected to know may occur, even if it is not the intended use under normal conditions of use or FORESEEABLE EMERGENCY.
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A manufacturer or importer is out of compliance if it does not provide hazard information on a known use or should have reasonably been expected to know may occur, even if it is not the intended use under normal conditions of use or foreseeable emergency.
OSHA defines “foreseeable emergency” as
any reasonably anticipated occurrence in the workplace use of the chemical such as, but not limited to, equipment failure, rupture of containers, or failure of control equipment which could result in an uncontrolled release of a hazardous chemical into the workplace. Employee exposures in the event of an accidental fire are NOT considered a foreseeable emergency.