Fischer Packing Company - Executive Summary |
|
I. Safety & Health Policy Statement It is a firm and continuing policy of Fischer Packing Company that safety is everyone's business. All with management authority shall make the assurance of safe and healthful working conditions and safe practices of employees a part of their daily effort and responsibility. In order to promote a safe working enviroment the company has established procedures for the following areas: the use of personal protective equipment, employee training, accident investigation, safety committee plant tours and meetings, hearing conversation, emergency evacuation, safe chemical handling, ammonia response, bloodborne pathogens, confined spaces, fire brigade, powered industrial trucks, hot work, lockout/ tagout, respirators, and compliance with government regulations. The management of Fischer Packing has an obligation to provide and maintain a safe work place for each employee. In turn, each employee not only shares a degree of responsibility for his or her safety and the safety of fellow employees, but also contributes to a safe working enviroment by using personal protective gear, following established safety procedures, and reporting unsafe conditions. The continuing effort by all of us at Fischer Packing will contribute substantially to preserving the good health of our employees and to improving our Company on a continuing basis. II. Accidental Release Prevention Fischer Packing Company has undertaken an aggressive program to update our pipes and valves. Additionally, much of the operating equipment in our refrigeration system has been rebuilt or replaced within the last five years. Daily and weekly refrigeration reports are prepared by a qualified employee. These reports contain checks and balances to maintain the safe operation of the refrigeration system. Facility tours are conducted in order to obtain the information contained in the reports. Fischer Packing Company has written standard operating procedures in place for employe e guidance and training. Ammonia is easily detected by a very distinctive odor. Security guards make facility rounds and promptly report any trace amount they may encounter. III. About Our Facility Fischer Packing Company distributes quality meat products in all or part of the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Alabama. The Fischer brand has wide recognition and acceptance in the market place that has been attained by many years of producing a consistent product line of very high quality. Fischer's products include sliced bacon, sliced luncheon meats, hot dogs, and boneless hams. Anhydrous ammonia is utilized in our refrigeration system. IV. Worst-Case Release Scenerio Written operating procedures prevent more than 3,867 gallons to be present in our largest vessel. The vessel has 5,800 gallons maximum capacity. We used offsite consequence analysis to determine that a release of this quantity would have off site impact, but ou r worst-case release is unlikely to occur for the following reasons. A hole approximately 3.658 inches by 3.658 inches would have to exist in the bottom of the vessel. The vessel was replaced in November, 1996. A new vessel has a life expectancy of twenty to twenty-five years. Concrete and steel barriers are present beneath the vessel that should prevent penetration of the magnitude needed to create such a hole. The maximum allowable volume would have to be present in the vessel. This is very seldom, if ever, the case. The wind and weather conditions would have to be very similiar to what was used for analysis. For worst-case analysis, the assumption was made that these occurrences were simultaneous. V. Alternate-Case Release Scenerio The circumstances for the alternate release were chosen due to the potential of an off site impact. It would be more likely for a leak to occur inside of our facility in one of our refrigerated areas, but written defensive procedures in place would con fine the area of the leak and restrict the off site impact. The alternate release was based on the failure of the transfer hose on the ammonia delivery truck during the transfer to our system. This release is unlikely to occur for the following reasons. HVC, our anhydrous ammonia supplier, inspects the tanks and hoses on the trucks every 45 to 60 days. The hoses are tagged with an in-service date, and a date that replacement is due. The hoses have a 6 year life expectancy. Fischer Packing Company has a written operating procedure in place for transferring ammonia. The HVC truck driver and Fischer employees trained in ammonia leak response would be in place to shut off necessary valves in order to stop the leak. VI. Accidental Release Prevention Program Fischer Packing Company is subject to the OSHA Process Safety Management regulation. Much of OSHA PSM regulation parallels 112 (r) risk management planning requirements. OSHA PSM risk management planning requirements have been in eff ect for two years. Daily and weekly inspections of our system are being conducted and written reports are turned in. Class room training from outside experts is available for our ammonia refrigeration personnel. A written testing system was developed to allow employees to obtain advanced knowledge of ammonia refrigeration. Employees achieving this level receives a pay incentive. Hands on training remains a significant portion of the training received. Emergency response training is completed annually. Fischer's is Y2K compliant. VII. Five-Year Accident History There have been no releases of ammonia at Fischer Packing Company in the past five years that have had an adverse impact on the community or the enviroment. On 5/30/95, an employee was affected by a small amount of ammonia released during a defrost cycle of a refrigeration unit. The employee stated a low tolerance for ammonia, much lower than the PEL for ammonia. The employee was allowed to leave the area. Numerous other employees in the area remained unaffected. The employee received outside medical attention. VIII. Emergency Response Program Fischer Packing Company has a Community Alert System in place which is tested monthly. Fischer's has an ammonia leak response procedure on file and coordinated with the Local Emergency Planning Commission and local emergency responders. Fischer's has developed and trained a competent in house emergency response team. IX. Planned Changes To Improve System Safety Numerous capital improvements have been made to our ammonia system over the last five years and we have projected future capital improvements. With these capital improvements, less maintenance should be required and the system will be inherently safer. Planned improvements include: 1) Continued replacement of piping as necessary, 2) installation of ammonia detectors in key areas, 3) expansion of alarm and warning indicator, 4) replacement of older evaporators with higher efficiency models (result ing in a reduction of the total volume of ammonia on site), 5) elimination of seven floor mounted units in cooler and replace with all piping and evaporators on roof for improved personal safety and ease of maintenance, and 6) replacement of the ammonia receiver located at the #2 pump station. |