IIAR

IIAR Committees serve as a valuable forum for the open discussion of the critical issues facing the industry. IIAR’s Compliance Guidelines Committee, is one of the organization’s newest committees. Its purpose is to review, revise and publish IIAR guidance documents that currently do not have a formal home within any of the other committees. Those documents include the Ammonia Data Book, the Process Safety Management & Risk Management Program and the Ammonia Refrigeration Management Program.

“In the past these documents were written externally, and we want to bring it in house and rely on the expertise of our members, rather than going outside to somebody else if possible,” said Eric Johnston, chair of the new committee. Johnston is also principle engineer-PSM for ConAgra Foods, a member of IIAR’s board of directors and a voting member on the Standards Committee.

Johnston said it has been a number of years since the documents were last updated. The Ammonia Data Book was last updated May 2008. The Process Safety Management & Risk Management Program Guidelines Volume I & II was updated in 2012, and the ARM Program was last updated in 2005 with references within the document being updated in 2007.

The committee will begin work to review those publications, and will also be working with the Standards Committee to develop a Recognized and Generally Accepted Good Engineering Practices standard. “This document is currently in the process of being developed, and I anticipate a lot of time and effort in the immediate future on this document,” Johnston said.

Michael Chapman, manager of process safety and risk management programs at Tyson Foods and an IIAR board member, is the co-chair for the committee. Johnston encouraged IIAR members to get involved.

“We’re looking for additional members that want to be actively involved in reviewing these documents and making modifications,” Johnston said. “From my standpoint, the best people to get involved are those that deal with the regulatory agencies and compliance. These documents are specifically giving guidance to end users on how to comply with regulations.”