OSHA Standards on Storing and Handling Flammable Liquids

OSHA Standards on Storing and Handling Flammable Liquids

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA ) promulgate standards to assure safe products and practices for workers in industry The OSHA safety management standard is designed to guide facilities in the safe management of processes that use highly hazardous chemicals The process safety management standard is a performance standard which means that it sets performance requirements for management programs rather than prescribing specific methods that must be used to control the hazardous chemicals . The requirements are intended to prevent or reduce the risk

of major industrial incidents that might expose employees to the hazards of catastrophic release of extremely toxic flammable , reactive or explosive chemicals (Totten Howes , 1997 br

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In the event of a fire or an explosion occurring in a laboratory , a major concern is to reduce the amount of fuel available to support a fire . The OSHA general industry standard in section 1910 .106 (d (3 provides restrictions on the maximum amount of flammable liquids allowed to be stored , dependent upon class , in flammable material storage cabinets within a room and defines in section 1910 .106 (d (2 the maximum size of individual containers for the various classes of inflammables . In section 1910 .106 (d (3 , of the General Industry Standards , OSHA limits the amount of class I and class II liquids in a single flammable material storage cabinet to 60 gallons and the amount of class III liquids to 120 gallons . Thus even if the integrity of a single storage cabinet were broached in a fire , or if an accident occurred while the cabinet was open , no more than 60 gallons of class I and class II liquids or 120 gallons of class III liquid could become involved in the incident . However , even these amounts would add significant amount of fuel to a fire and can engulf a building or laboratory , unless effective fire suppressant system existed (Furr 2000 ,

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Liquid flammable in OSHA standard means any liquid having a flashpoint below 100 degrees F , except any mixtures having components with flashpoints of 100 degrees F or higher , the percent or more of the According to OSHA standards , while handling flammable liquids , it should be ensured that all the containers and tanks used for storage and handlings of liquids are made of OSHA approved materials . Mechanical or gravity ventilation in the storage rooms and solvent wastes and flamamable liquids are to be kept in fire resistant , covered container until removed from worksites . All the bulk drums of inflammable liquids are to be grounded and bonded to containers during dispensing . The OSHA standard also specifies that storage tanks be adequately vented to prevent development of excessive vacuum or pressure as a result of filling , emptying or atmosphere temperature changes .1

OSHA standard recognized that simultaneous existence of three factors can initiate a fire in the laboratory . These factors are a concentration of flammable gas or vapor that is within the flammable limits of the substance , an oxidizing atmosphere...