OSHA believes that contemplated changes to a process must be
thoroughly evaluated to fully assess their impact on employee safety
and health and to determine needed changes to operating procedures.
To this end, the standard contains a section on procedures for managing
changes to processes. Written procedures to manage changes
(except for “replacements in kind”) to process chemicals, technology,
equipment, and procedures, and change to facilities that affect a
covered process, must be established and implemented. These
written procedures must ensure that the following considerations are
addressed prior to any change:
• The technical basis for the proposed change,
• Impact of the change on employee safety and health,
• Modifications to operating procedures,
• Necessary time period for the change, and
• Authorization requirements for the proposed change.