scope:

Purpose

The purpose of this standard is to prescribe the NASA safety standards and procedures for operations involving explosives handling and processing. This document provides a uniform set of standards for all NASA Centers involved in explosives storage, handling, and processing, and complies with the cardinal principle for explosives safety: Expose the minimum number of people to the minimum quantity of explosives for the minimum amount of time consistent with the operation being conducted.

This standard has been reviewed and approved for NASA use in accordance with 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1960.18 as a supplemental standard to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulation 29 CFR 1910.109. For those areas not covered by 29 CFR 1910.109, this standard takes the place of OSHA regulations shall apply.

Applicability

This standard is approved for use by NASA Headquarters and NASA Centers, including Component Facilities and Technical and Service Support Centers and may be cited in contract, program, and other Agency documents as a technical requirement. This standard may also apply to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and to other contractors, grant recipients, or parties to agreements to the extent specified or referenced in their contracts, grants, or agreements.

This standard is applicable to facilities engaged in the development, manufacturing, handling, storage, transportation (on/offsite), processing, testing, or use of explosives, or assemblies containing explosives. The standard further provides requirements for operations involving explosives, propellants, pyrotechnics and energetic liquids used for and in space launch vehicles, aeronautic applications, rockets, missiles, associated static test apparatus, and ammunition items, and the safe management of such operations.

This standard does not govern bulk storage of hazardous gases used for standard industrial purposes (e.g., medical, welding) and non-propellant uses and systems involving liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.

The design of new explosives facilities shall conform to the requirements of NPR 8820.2 and the requirements in this document.

In this standard, document citations are assumed to be the latest version, unless otherwise noted.