First, let me say this article was written for those who do NOT live in the world of process safety, but yet they do have hazardous materials on-site in some type of bulk system, albeit below the PSM/RMP thresholds. In this posting, I am going to use Propane/LPG as my HAZMAT as there are many facilities that have this chemical on-site, even above the PSM/RMP TQs, but are exempt as it is used SOLELY as a fuel. But just because OSHA/EPA provided this regulatory exemption from PSM/RMP, it does NOT mean we do not have some very basic safety requirements for storing/handling this “extremely flammable” CAT 1 gas. Recently a friend had an incident at his/her facility involving LPG/Propane and things got way out of control and people were placed in harm’s way in their attempt to fix a bad situation. SO let’s review what basic safety and emergency fundamentals should be in place when a business has LPG/Propane on site:
NOTE: I can not think of a state that does not have some type of regulatory structure around the storage and handling of Propane/LPG, and yet the vast majority of businesses, large and small, fail in a big way in how they store and handle this CATEGORY 1 Flammable Gas.
The simplest of requirements is… what do I do if I have a leak?