Process Safety Management (PSM)

What is the Process Safety Management (PSM)?

The Process Safety Management (PSM) course from the American Institute of Safety Professionals provides comprehensive training on OSHA 29 CFR 1910.119, the federal standard that prevents catastrophic releases of highly hazardous chemicals in process industries. PSM is fundamentally different from occupational safety: occupational safety protects individual workers from workplace hazards (falls, struck-by, noise), while process safety prevents the catastrophic events (explosions, toxic releases, fires) that can kill dozens of workers simultaneously and devastate surrounding communities. The disasters that created PSM — Bhopal (1984), Phillips 66 (1989), BP Texas City (2005), Deepwater Horizon (2010) — demonstrate what happens when process safety fails: mass casualties, environmental devastation, and billions of dollars in losses.

OSHA 1910.119 applies to facilities that handle highly hazardous chemicals (HHCs) above threshold quantities listed in Appendix A, and to processes involving 10,000 pounds or more of flammable liquids or gases. This includes oil refineries, petrochemical plants, chemical manufacturing, gas processing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and any facility where loss of containment could produce a catastrophic event. The standard establishes 14 interrelated elements that together create a management system for preventing catastrophic releases. This course teaches every element at the practical level that PSM coordinators, process engineers, operations supervisors, and safety professionals need to implement and maintain compliance.

The curriculum covers all 14 PSM elements: Employee Participation, Process Safety Information (PSI), Process Hazard Analysis (PHA — including HAZOP, What-If, FMEA, and Fault Tree awareness), Operating Procedures, Training, Contractors, Pre-Startup Safety Review (PSSR), Mechanical Integrity, Hot Work, Management of Change (MOC), Incident Investigation, Emergency Planning and Response, Compliance Audits, and Trade Secrets. The course also covers the relationship between OSHA PSM and EPA’s Risk Management Program (RMP, 40 CFR 68), how PSM differs from occupational safety, and the integration of PSM with operational excellence frameworks.

All training is delivered 100 percent online through Microsoft Teams and the American Institute of Safety Professionals Learning Management System (LMS). Upon successful completion, graduates receive an American Institute of Safety Professionals certificate, professional wallet card, and official transcript, all employer-verifiable at amiosp.com/student-verifications.

Who should take this course?

• PSM coordinators and process safety engineers responsible for PSM element implementation
• Operations supervisors and shift leaders in PSM-covered facilities
• Safety managers and HSE directors in refineries, petrochemical, chemical, and gas processing
• Process engineers involved in PHA, MOC, PSSR, and operating procedure development
• Maintenance managers responsible for mechanical integrity programmes
• Contractor safety managers who manage work in PSM-covered facilities
• Anyone working in or near processes covered by OSHA 1910.119

What will you study?

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