OSHA has clarified its interpretation regarding the exemption of retail facilities from compliance with its standard on Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals (PSM). Keep reading to find out what’s involved and if your business might be affected.

 

Starting in January of 2016, OSHA will begin enforcing a change in its interpretation of which retail establishments are exempt from PSM requirements.

 

When OSHA promulgated the PSM standard in 1992 it explained that chemicals in retail facilities (for example a gas station) are generally sold in small packages, containers, and allotments and as such, were not subject to PSM. After the standard was issued, OSHA issued various letters of interpretation and made statements that more broadly interpreted the exemption. These statements indicated that an establishment was exempt from PSM coverage if it derived more than 50 percent of its income from direct sales of highly hazardous chemicals to the end user. This came to be known as the “50 percent test.”

 

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