Sealed Air Corporation Grand Prairie TX - Executive Summary |
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Sealed Air Corporation Grand Prairie, Texas RMP*SUBMIT Executive Summary Executive Summary -- Sealed Air Corporation -- Grand Prairie, Texas The accidental release prevention and emergency policies at your facility SEALED AIR CORPORATION Environmental, Health & Safety Policy Policy It is Sealed Air's policy to conduct its business in compliance with applicable health, safety, and environmental laws. The health and safety of our employees, customers and communities, and prevention of pollution are among Sealed Air's primary concerns. Sealed Air is committed to providing safe working conditions for our employees, to promoting the safe design, use and handling of Sealed Air products and to complying with laws relating to the protection of the environment. Each employee is expected to promote these goals in his or her tasks. We also work toward safety and environmental excellence as an integral part of our World Class Manufacturing program. Each Division General Man ager has ultimate responsibility for the administration of EHS programs and regulatory compliance; however, compliance with this Policy is the responsibility of every Sealed Air employee. The plant has multi-faceted safety programs that support public health, safety and environmental issues. These programs include employee education and training combined with physical prevention. One of the cornerstone programs for flammable materials is the Process Safety Management program. Your facility and the regulated substances handled Overview of Process The Sealed Air Corporation Grand Prairie facility manufactures polyethylene foam products used as packaging or recreational material. The foam is polyethylene material with bubbles encased within sheets, or blocks. These bubbles within the foam are called cells. Polyethylene foam sheets, planks, rounds, etc. are produced using an extruder. The extruder performs three distinct functions: melts and plasticizes the polyethylene (pol ymer), disperses and mixes the blowing agent with the polyethylene, and cools the mixture sufficiently to prevent cell collapse when the material is extruded through the die. Polyethylene pellets are melted in the extruder. The blowing agent is pumped into the extruder under pressure. Once the polyethylene / blowing agent mixture leaves the die, and the mixture is no longer under pressure, the blowing agent vaporizes and begins to expand the material into foam. Overview of Blowing Agent System The blowing agents are stored in approved pressure vessels as a non-odorized liquid petroleum under pressure (< 150 psi). The liquid is pumped at low pressure to the plant's high-pressure pumps. A metering station regulates and controls the flow of the blowing agent into the injection port of the extruder. The facility has two blowing agent tanks rated for 250 psi (6565 gallons each). The worst-case scenario(s) and the alternative release scenario(s) A flammable worst-case scenario a ssumes a hydrocarbon vapor cloud explosion using EPA's RMP guidance for hydrocarbon storage facilities reference tables or equations. The calculated endpoint distance with the release of the full storage vessel (21,000 lbs.) with a 1-PSI endpoint is 0.2 miles. The likelihood of a vapor cloud explosion with a full storage vessel release is possible but highly unlikely. The more possible scenario would be the leak of the piping to or from the storage vessels. As an alternate scenario, we have considered the repute of a pipe with a release rate of 10 pounds per minute for 10 minutes creating a vapor cloud explosion. The estimated distance to 1 psi over-pressure would be 0.02 miles (110 ft.). The environmental, health and safety programs utilized at this facility make the chances for a reportable material release very remote. The general accidental release prevention program and chemical-specific prevention steps The plant has a multi-faceted safety program that supports healt h, safety, and environmental issues. One of the more in-depth programs is Process Safety Management of highly hazardous chemicals that was promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the United States Department of Labor (29 CFR 1910.119). The purpose of this requirement is to prevent or minimize the consequences of catastrophic releases of toxic, reactive, flammable, or explosive chemicals. The general accidental release prevention program and chemical-specific prevention steps include mitigation, prevention and abatement procedures. These include: A. Employee education and training: a) All employees receive initial and yearly refresher training in our Hazard Communication Program, Emergency Response, Operating Procedures and Job Safety Analysis. b) The production and maintenance personnel are trained to operate the blowing agent systems under safety procedures outlined in the plant's Process Safety Management program. B. Physical Prevention a) A proce ss hazard analysis (hazard evaluation) of the equipment and process was performed for the facility in February 1998. b) A Management of Change procedure is used to assure that only authorized changes are made to the process. c) Incident investigation procedures are followed to address areas of concern. d) An Emergency Response Plan is used to document and train employees to handle non-routine situations. e) Daily inventory reconciliation of the blowing agent tanks are conducted. f) Maintenance personnel physically inspect the blowing agent systems each shift and inspect the flammable materials storage areas. g) The blowing agent tanks and equipment are equipped with electronic sensors which are monitored 24-hours per day by plant personnel and a private security firm. h) The blowing agent equipment and tanks are protected by an assortment of physical barriers. i) The blowing agent equipment and tanks are installed under the recommendations of the National Fire Protection Association Co des #58 and #70. The five year accident history We have had no accidental releases of blowing agents in the past five years. An accidental release is a spill of 500 pounds or more. The emergency response program Sealed Air Corporation's Grand Prairie, Texas facility has in place numerous safety programs and safety systems to mitigate the consequences of any reasonable release scenario. Of those programs, an active employee and management safety committee is an on-going program of constant improvement relative to how we deal with both chemical and work place hazards. Systems in place to reduce the likelihood of a release of regulated substances include both electronic monitoring and mechanical devices that will reduce the risk of a release. In addition to the aforementioned devices, this facility is regulated under the OSHA Process Safety Management Program which provides a system of checks and balances to monitor the risk. In the event of a release, it is the policy of Seale d Air to immediately notify the local fire department and all appropriate governmental agencies. The local fire department conducts annual training for all our employees, and all RMP related information will be forwarded to the Tarrant County Emergency Management office. Planned changes to improve safety Sealed Air Grand Prairie has very robust environmental, health and safety programs that are driven by active employee participation. Weekly and monthly inspections and training programs are on going events that contribute to our commitment to creating a safe and healthy work environment. |