Peter Pan Seafoods Inc. - King Cove Plant - Executive Summary |
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Peter Pan Seafoods, Inc., (PPSF) owns and operates a seafood processing plant at King Cove, Alaska. The facility will be referred to as PPSFKC. PPSFKC has a large ammonia refrigeration system to provide for all cold storage needs of the plant for storing freezing seafood catch and for freeze-packaging of seafood. Since the amount of ammonia present in the system exceeds the threshold quantity of 10,000 lbs, the PPSFKC is subject to OSHA's (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) process safety management (PSM) standard. In addition, facilities subject to PSM are also subject to the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) risk management program (RMP) regulations under Section 112[r] of the Clean Air Act (CAA). PPSFKC has implemented an extensive PSM program for its ammonia refrigeration system covering all the fourteen (14) elements of the PSM program: Employee Participation Process Safety Information Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) Operating Procedures Training C ontractor Requirements Pre-Startup Safety Review Mechanical Integrity Audits Hot Work Permits Management Of Change Incident Investigation Emergency Planning And Response Compliance Audits A process hazards analysis (PHA) was conducted on an ammonia refrigeration system at Peter Pan Seafoods - King Cove, in August 1996. The PHA was based on a generic study developed by the International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (IIAR) and the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses (IARW). The generic study was customized and supplemented with unique site-specific issues to ensure that all hazards of this particular ammonia refrigeration system were thoroughly reviewed. This was done with a qualified PHA leader in a team format, centered around the What-If/Checklist technique. With respect to modes of operation, the scope of the PHA included continuous normal operations, startup, shutdown, emergency situations, charging, and pumpout. In addition, maintenance activities were d iscussed throughout the review. The elements of the prevention program implemented for compliance under the PSM regulation, are adopted into the risk management plan. The plant's ammonia refrigeration system vendor conducts periodic inspections and equipment audits. |