Town of Waynesville Wastewater Treatment Plant - Executive Summary |
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The intent of this program is to foster a broad and active participation involving hourly and contract employees aligned in a common purpose to make the workplace safer. Consistent with this intent, branch management has proceeded to: (1) Inform employees about the promulgation of OSHA PSM Final Rule, including a general description of the elements contained within it, using currently established communication methods., (2) Access compliance status and develop specific plans to assure that the plant has the provisions of the OSHA Process Safety Management Rule effectively implemented, communicating this to employees as appropriate., (3) Identify operations (processes) covered under the requirements of the rule and communicate these findings to employees., (4) Establish an awareness and understanding among employees about the relevancy and applicability of location safety program elements already established through the Town of Waynesville procedures and operational safety program toward meeting the requirements within the OSHA Process Safety Management Rule., (5) Establish mechanisms to make information on covered processes available to employees., (6) Involve employees in compliance with the various elements within the OSHA Process Safety Management based on their knowledge, skills, and experience., (7) Encourage employees to submit safety suggestions via a safety\operations\quality improvement suggestions system. The program elements are process safety information, process hazard analysis, operating procedures, training, contractors, pre-startup safety review, mechanical integrity, hot work permits, management of change, incident investigation, emergency planning and response, compliance audits, and mechanisms for access to information. At the Town of Waynesville's Waste Water Treatment Facility, all chemicals are handled in the safest manner possible. Employees are trained in the safe handling of chemicals from the start and are expected to continue handling these chemicals safely throughout their employment with this facility. However, if there was a release of a chemical the employees are trained to handle this situation efficiently and carefully without risking their life, the lives of others, or the environment. The Town of Waynesville's Waste Water Treatment Plant treats raw sewage and releases the treated water into the Pigeon River. The treated water is disinfected with chlorine. Chlorine is the hazardous chemical on the facilities grounds. We store and use approximately 5 one ton cylinders of chlorine. The worst case senario was the release of all five one ton cylinders. The area effected was 2.8 miles in radius. This would affect shopping malls, schools, homes, creeks, rivers, and a lake. However, detection devices are soon to be in place to prevent this large scale of a release. The alternative scenarios was the release of 1 one ton cylinder. This release would only effect the p opulation in a 0.8 mile radius. This release affect a creek, a river, and homes. However, detection devices are soon to be in place to prevent such a release. At this facility the alternative release would be a worst case senario. This is why we chose this release for our alternative. The Town of Waynesville's Waste Water Treatment facility complies to all OSHA PSM rules. Also, the facility complies to the Sara title three rules. The most important practice in our prevention program is training. Also, communication among all employees pertaining to hazardous situations , and the immediate steps taken by the employees to fix the hazardous situation. The Town of Waynesville's Waste Water Treatment facility has been accident free for over ten years. The Town of Waynesville's Waste Water Treatment facility coordinates with the local fire department and Haywood County's local emergency response commision.Training is conducted using the P.B.&S. Emergency Response Trai ning Manual, communication and other sources of information. As training is ongoing, the only other changes will be to install a new alarm system after July 1, 1999 |