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The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) recently released final reports on two concluded investigations and updates on four ongoing investigations. The CSB’s October 11 final report on a June 2019 fire and explosion at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) Refinery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, identified several safety issues. During the incident, a corroded […]
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) called for stricter environmental and occupational safety regulations to help prevent reactive chemical accidents, like an explosion and fire at AB Specialty Silicones’ Waukegan, Illinois, facility. CSB reiterated an earlier recommendation for the EPA to revise its risk management plan (RMP) regulations and for the Occupational […]
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) is once again drawing attention to the hazards of combustible dust in the workplace. As part of its investigation into a May 2017 explosion at a milling facility in Cambria, Wisconsin, which fatally injured five workers and demolished the facility, the CSB has issued a call […]
Worker participation in industrial chemical accident investigations is a high priority at the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), which recently issued a Board Order Addendum that establishes the CSB’s policy on such participation.
Explosions and fires at oil refineries and chemical facilities are far more likely to occur during equipment start-ups and shutdowns, notes the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) in a recent Safety Digest. Workers are typically the first line of victims when such incidents occur. In the Digest, the CSB describes three start-up/shutdown […]
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), an independent federal agency that investigates serious chemical incidents, has announced an updated mission that will guide its activities going forward. Keep reading for details.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released its final report into multiple chemical releases at the Tesoro Refinery in Martinez, California. Get details here, including revealing findings about safety culture.
Laboratories are dangerous places, and university laboratories have proved deadly with disturbing regularity in recent years. In 2008, for example, a lab research assistant at the University of California, Los Angeles, was killed in a flash fire. In January 2010, an explosion at Texas Tech University cost a graduate student three fingers and caused severe […]
In the wake of the Chevron Richmond Refinery fire in 2012, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and state agencies have stepped up their process safety management (PSM) recommendations and enforcement efforts. Federal OSHA had already initiated the Petroleum Refinery Process Safety Management National Emphasis Program (Refinery NEP) […]