The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) has proposed a new Process Safety Management standard for oil refineries (the "Refinery PSM Standard"). The proposal, which is a precursor to formal notice and comment rulemaking, proposes a sweeping rewrite of the PSM standard for oil refineries as well as several new management system elements. California's efforts may drive consideration of similar issues as the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) considers revisions to its PSM regulations.

The draft proposal is part of an ongoing effort that began with the California Interagency Working Group on Refinery Safety (the "Refinery Working Group"). The Refinery Working Group's February 2014 report, entitled, "Improving Public and Worker Safety at Oil Refineries" (the "Report") identified several perceived inadequacies in existing regulations and systems for petroleum refineries. Based on the Refinery Working Group's review of existing regulatory schemes, it determined that the Contra Costa Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO) was the "most far-reaching" and held "the most promise for improving safety." Using the ISO as a model, the Refinery Working Group recommended "state-of-the art prevention strategies" that "must be incorporated into the CalARP [California Accidental Release Prevention program] and Cal/OSHA [California Division of Occupational Safety and Health] PSM programs and made enforceable statewide."