scope:

Applicability

This publication was developed for refineries, petrochemical and chemical operations, natural gas liquids extraction plants, and other facilities covered by the OSHA Process Management Standard, 29 CFR 1910.119. This publication does not apply to production facilities surrounded by navigable waters, such as offshore platforms or to storage tanks, wastewater tanks and similar facilities. Such facilities have unique siting issues which are addressed by other recommended practices, such as RP 14J for off-shore facilities.

Additionally, this publication is not intended for use in designing and locating safe refuge from the effects of fires, explosions, and toxic releases.

Relationship of this Recommended Practice to OSHA 29 CFR 1910.119

OSHA 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1910.119, "Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals (PSM)," includes requirements for addressing facility siting as part of a process hazards analysis (PHA).

This publication is intended to assist in identifying the siting issues for process plant buildings, understanding the associated hazards, and managing the risk. Hence, this publication provides a framework that can be used to address facility siting within the PHA requirements of OSHA 29 CFR 1910.119 as applied to buildings.

The PHA as required by OSHA 29 CFR 1910.119 is intended to identify scenarios that could lead to serious release of toxic or flammable materials or an explosion. Those parts of this publication intended to assist in the PHA process are identified on the flowcharts (see Figures 2, 4, and 5) by a dashedline box labeled "PHA." The remaining parts are intended to serve as management aids in resolving issues that arise when evaluating the location of process plant buildings.