Process safety management system is a regulation promulgated by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). A process is any activity or combination of activities including any use, storage, manufacturing, handling or the on-site movement of highly hazardous chemicals (HHCs) as defined by OSHA and the Environmental Protection Agency. Definition A process safety management system is an analytical tool focused on preventing releases of any substance defined as a "highly hazardous chemical" by the EPA(Environmental protection act)or OSHA. Process Safety Management (PSMS) refers to a set of interrelated approaches to managing hazards associated with the process industries and is intended to reduce the frequency and severity of incidents resulting from releases of chemicals and other energy sources (US OSHA 1999). These standards are composed of organizational and operational procedures, design guidance, audit programs, and a host of other methods. Elements of process safety management system The process safety management system program is divided into 14 elements. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 1910.119 define all 14 elements of the process safety management system plan. Process Safety Information Process Hazard Analysis Operating Procedures Training Contractors Mechanical Integrity Hot Work, Management of Change Incident Investigation Compliance Audits Pre startup safety review Emergency planning & Response Trade secrets Employee Participation All of those elements mentioned above are interlinked and interdependent. There is a tremendous interdependency of the various elements of PSM. All elements are related and are necessary to make up the entire PSM picture. Every element either contributes information to other elements for the completion or utilizes information from other elements in order to be completed. Process safety information Process safety information (PSI) might be considered the keystone of a PSM Program in that it tells you what you are dealing with from both the equipment and the process standpoint. In order to be in compliance with the OSHA PSMS regulations the process safety information should include information pertaining to the hazards of the highly hazardous chemicals used or produced by the process, information pertaining to the technology of the process and information pertaining to the equipment in the process. Information pertaining to the hazards of the highly hazardous chemicals in the process should consist of at least the following: Toxicity information Permissible exposure limit Physical data Reactivity data Corrosivity data Thermal and chemical stability data Hazardous effects of inadvertent mixing of different materials that could foreseeably occur. Information