Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez faced sharp scrutiny during a recent Senate subcommittee hearing over accusations that OSHA ignored “congressional intent” regarding the agency’s enforcement policy for retail establishments under the Process Safety Management Standard.

 

Last July, OSHA issued a memorandum revising an interpretation that had previously exempted retail facilities from certain PSM requirements. OSHA said the revised interpretation was a correction to the exemption, which was intended for establishments such as gas stations that sell small quantities of hazardous chemicals – including anhydrous ammonia – but had been applied to establishments that handle thousands of pounds of chemicals and earn more than 50 percent of their income from direct sales of such chemicals to end users.

 

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