OSHA process safety management of highly hazardous chemicals
A series of catastrophic chemical incidents in the 1980s led to OSHA issuing its Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals standard (PSM) in 1992. The PSM standard establishes a comprehensive management program that integrates technologies, procedures, and management practices.
On March 23, 2005, at a BP oil refinery in Texas City, Texas, a cloud of hydrocarbon vapor came into contact with a truck that had been left idling nearby. Realizing the danger, workers frantically tried to turn off the engine, but were forced to flee when the vapor cloud expanded. The cloud spread – with no alarm sounding – until it ignited and exploded -- a giant blast and shock wave that instantly killed 15 people and seriously injured 180 others.