SAFE Engineering

Gathering and assessing the right information, however, is the hard part of the PHSR/PSR (Pre-Start Health and Safety Review) process. This compliance process is called a PHSR/PSR (Pre-Start Health and Safety Review). Therefore a trusted, fully insured, multidiscipline Engineering group familiar with PHSR / PSR (Pre-Start Health and Safety Review) should be consulted before a purchase decision for machinery or equipment is made. When purchasing documents are prepared, it is easy to specify that it is the supplier’s responsibility (not the future owner’s) to provide PHSR/PSR (Pre-Start Health and Safety Review) documents with the machine.

Once your company becomes the owner or lessee of equipment with these concerns, it also becomes responsible for its compliance to the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and Ontario Electrical Code for example. In Ontario, owners and lessees of equipment or processes related to the storage and dispensing of flammable liquids, machine guarding, racks and racking systems, potentially explosive processes, dust collectors, molten metal and foundries, lifting devices, or occupational exposure to hazardous substances, are increasingly becoming responsible for making sure that the process, machine or device that will be used in their industrial establishments is in compliance with provincial OH&S regulations. This is achieved through the so-called Pre-Start Health & Safety Review process or PSR, where a professional engineer must review the hazards of the above equipment or process and issue a report stating the compliance status of the equipment or process. To avoid unnecessary liability, delays and expense we advise or new clients to pass the responsibility for PSRs on to their suppliers by stating in their purchase orders that suppliers must obtain a PSR from SAFE Engineering Inc.

The regulations allow the storage of flammable/combustible liquids in plants in the following areas: * specially designed storage rooms, in closed containers only, where dispensing is not allowed. The cabinets for storing flammable/combustible liquid containers serve the following purposes: the protection of flammable/combustible liquids against flash fires; the prevention of excessive internal temperatures in the presence of fire; and the containment of spilled flammable liquids to prevent the spread of fire. The cabinets are usually made of metal having a double wall construction with a three-point door latch and a liquid-tight door sill raised at least 50 mm above the floor. A maximum quantity of 500 litres of flammable and combustible liquids may be stored in an approved cabinet, of which not more than 250 litres may be Class I liquids.

A major risk for any industrial workplace, is the rapid combustion of fine particles in the air. They are particularly dangerous in confined spaces where the explosive power, under extremely high pressure, can cause flying shrapnel, which is a danger to both employees and equipment. For example, grain particles are generally very large items, but during transport, they rub against one another, become compressed or crushed, and break down into very small dust particles. The humidity level in February is much lower than it is in July, so a sample must be targeted for the worst possible condition.