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The OSHA National Emphasis Program (NEP) for Refineries

On June 7, 2007, the US Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched a National Emphasis Program (NEP) for petroleum refineries. The NEP includes inspections of all refineries (SIC 2911/NAICS 324110) for compliance with the Process Safety Management Regulations (29 CFR 1910.119). The complete OSHA Directive is contained in CPL 03-00-004.

According to OSHA, the NEP is needed because:

• The large number of fatal or catastrophic incidents in the petroleum refining industry indicates the need for a national emphasis program.

• Since the PSM standard was promulgated by OSHA in 1992, no other industry sector has had as many fatal or catastrophic incidents related to the release of highly hazardous chemicals as the petroleum refining industry.

Program Summary

There are 152 refineries in the U.S.—101 are within federal OSHA jurisdiction ("non-state-plan" states). OSHA is encouraging state-plan states to follow their lead. Of these 101 refineries, 20 are involved in the Voluntary Protection Participants (VPP) program, which exempts them from programmed OSHA inspections. OSHA will inspect all 81 refineries during the course of the program. Refineries in the VPP program will have to answer a large subset of the NEP questions (it appears this subset may be different, depending upon the region) as part of their annual self-assessment. The OSHA administrator has directed that this be done within two years, although in Region 6 – Dallas, where 69 subject refineries are located, OSHA may take three years. Area office and regional administrators will select refineries at random. Several inspections have already begun, and early inspections are now being completed (with significant citations being issued).

OSHA has been training their compliance personnel – about 300 OSHA inspectors including 150 trained as team leaders. Each inspection team will consist of two to five individuals. They will probably spend two to six months on each inspection, including one to three months on-site. The inspection will focus on checking PSM implementation—not just records—targeting specific process units and strategically sampling equipment, records and personnel. The NEP directive includes a long list of document requests which OSHA will make and over 90 "static" questions which OSHA intends to ask at each refinery.  (There is also another "dynamic" list of questions from which additional questions will be drawn and asked at each refinery.)

ABS Consulting has helped several companies organize the NEP document requests and "static" questions, and developed a philosophical response and suggested actions for each request/question based upon the particular company/refinery PSM program.

ABS Consulting can help your company prepare for your upcoming audit. We can provide customized NEP guidance/preparation services, provide or assist with pre-NEP assessments, provide consultation on questions relating to the NEP directive, and assist with PSM program improvements before or after your NEP audit.

Services

NEP Guidance/Preparation

ABS Consulting can provide customized services to help you prepare for the NEP audit for refineries, including:

• Visiting a refinery or central location (if developing company-wide guidance) to understand their PSM programs/systems/philosophy

• Quickly customizing and providing draft NEP document and/or question guidance documents based upon our understanding of the company/site PSM programs

• Further explaining or customizing the NEP guidance document(s) as necessary or desired

Documentation and Program Assessments

ABS Consulting can provide or assist with assessments, of varying scope or level of detail, to review your documentation against NEP requirements, and provide guidance on addressing potential issues identified.

Consultation on Directive Questions

ABS Consulting can assist in answering your questions about the OSHA Refinery NEP directive, and help your team understand the questions and be more prepared to answer the OSHA inspectors’ questions.

PSM Program Improvements

ABS Consulting can assist you in improving your PSM program, in areas identified by you, us, and/or OSHA.

If you would like more information or tools/guidance on dealing with the refinery NEP issues, please contact:

James Thompson
Senior Consultant
1-281-673-2853 | jthompson@absconsulting.com

David Whittle
Director
1-865-671-5819 | dwhittle@absconsulting.com

Steve Arendt
Vice President
1-281-673-2914 | sarendt@absconsulting.com