In response to several recent chemical explosions, on February 3, 2012, the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services (DFS) promulgated the Hazardous Materials Processing regulation (527 CMR 33). Any facility that conducts physical or chemical processing of a hazardous material, regardless of quantity, with an NFPA rating of 3 or higher is potentially subject to the regulation.
Therefore, a very broad range of businesses will be impacted. The first group of facilities needing to comply (Category 5 facilities) must do so by January 1, 2013.
Previous Chemical Incidents
Several Massachusetts incidents have led to the development of this new regulation including the 2005 explosion at PolyCarbon Industries in Leominster, the 2006 explosion at the CAI, Inc. facility in Danvers, and the 2011 explosion at the Bostik Chemical Plant in Middleton. Post-incident review findings for all three of these incidents identified deficient process safety procedures and controls as a contributing factor.
Program Goal
The goal of 527 CMR 33 is to protect public and emergency response personnel, enhance awareness of emergency response personnel to hazards and risks present, and establish permitting requirements for certain facilities conducting processing of hazardous materials. The regulation goes beyond the requirements of the USEPA’s Risk Management Program (RMP) and OSHA’s Process Safety Management (PSM) program, and there are distinct differences between these federal programs and this new regulation including lower regulatory thresholds and a much larger universe of subject materials.
... to continue reading you must be subscribed
