Sparked by the August 2012 explosion at Chevrons Richmond, Calif., refinery, the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is calling on California to update its process safety management standards (PSMS) for petroleum refineries.
The current regulatory system for process safety is largely reactive, at both the state and federal level. Companies have a default right to operate, and are subject to penalties when accidents occur or their activities otherwise draw negative attention from regulators, CSB Chairman Dr. Rafael Moure-Eraso said. In the case of the Chevron refinery fire, the reactive system of regulation simply did not work to prevent what was ultimately a preventable accident.
Don Holmstrom, director of the CSBs Western Regional Office, noted that the Chevron report recommends regulatory changes that would empower workers and their representatives. CSBs first report asserted that Chevron missed opportunities to apply inherently safer piping design through the use of more corrosion-resistant metal alloys. The first report also concluded that Chevron failed to identify and evaluate damage mechanism hazards, which if acted upon, likely would have identified the possibility of a catastrophic sulfidation corrosion-related piping failure, according to the agency. In mid December, CSB will hold a public meeting to unveil its third report on the Chevron incident.