While we pray the day never comes, most facilities will eventually have an accidental release. Thankfully, catastrophic accidents are few and far between. Regardless of the magnitude of the event, the PSM standard requires the incident to be investigated. Here is an overview of the incident investigation requirements found in Title 40 CFR §68.81 and Title 29 CFR §1910.119(m):
The regulation states that the facility must investigate any incident that resulted in or could have reasonably resulted in a catastrophic release. The investigation must be initiated promptly, within 48 hours following the incident. An incident investigation team must be established, including individuals with knowledge and experience related to the process involved. A report must be prepared at the conclusion of the investigation, including the date of the incident, the date the investigation began, a description of the incident, factors contributing to the incident, and any resulting recommendations. The facility must establish a system to promptly address and resolve the incident report findings and recommendations, documenting resolutions and corrective actions. The report must be reviewed with all affected personnel, and incident investigation reports must be retained for five (5) years.
At Macha PSM, we offer an annual agreement for ongoing PSM consultation so that when an incident occurs, we can help lead the investigation, make any desired notifications if necessary, perform a release calculation, and write a detailed report. If you're interested in learning more about our annual agreements, submit a request through our contact page.
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