The August 6, 2012 fire at Chevron’s Richmond, California refinery is likely to result in increased OSHA enforcement of their process safety management (PSM) standard. Although OSHA has no enforcement authority in Venezuela, the August 25, 2012 Venezuela Amuay refinery explosion resulting in at least 48 fatalities has further increased concerns concerning refinery safe work practices in the United States.

The following article mentions the possibility of criminal prosecution for Chevron due to their recent incident.

How good is your companies PSM program? Does it adequately cover each of the 14 elements? Will it satisfy OSHA during a compliance inspection? Click here to learn more about effective PSM programs.

Jon