Industrial process safety in the United States continues to face a critical gap between advanced engineering practices and fragmented regulatory oversight. Existing frameworks, including Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) Process Safety Management (PSM) and Environmental Protection Agency’s Risk Management Program (RMP), have strengthened baseline compliance but remain limited in their ability to adapt to emerging technologies such as hydrogen systems, carbon capture, and increasingly digitalized process operations. This review synthesizes literature to examine how existing frameworks address emerging industrial risks and where integration gaps persist. Through this synthesis, the paper develops the Integrated Engineering-Policy Framework (IEPF) and Unified Digital Process Safety Authority (UDPSA) as a conceptual structure that connects engineering intelligence, operational reliability and adaptive governance. Benchmarking against international approaches, including the EU’s Seveso III Directive and the UK’s COMAH (United Kingdom’s Control of Major Accident Hazards) regulations, illustrates how the framework aligns with safety regimes while extending their integration through digital governance concepts. Beyond the United States, the model offers a scalable reference for the Global South seeking to strengthen regulatory coordination, transparency and data-informed oversight. Overall, this review contributes an evidence-informed perspective on enhancing incident prevention, intelligent monitoring and long-term industrial sustainability. • Identifies limitations of OSHA PSM and EPA RMP for emerging energy technologies • Proposes an Integrated Engineering–Policy Framework (IEPF) for adaptive safety governance • Introduces the Unified Digital Process Safety Authority (UDPSA) concept for real-time oversight • Demonstrates transferability of the framework to Global South energy infrastructures
Ababio et al. (Sun,) studied this question.