—US Chemical Safety Board closer to getting 3 more members “Panel faces backlog of accident investigations” The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) moved a step closer to becoming fully functional July 29 as a Senate Environment and Public Works subcommittee considered three presidential nominees for the panel. Since April 2020, the five-seat board has operated with a single member.The board’s primary responsibility is to investigate significant chemical accidents, determine their root cause, and make operational, regulatory, and other recommendations to avoid similar incidents in the future.But over the past 18 months, the CSB has begun only one investigation and has finalized a single accident report.
by Jeff Johnson, special to C&EN | August 08, 2021
CSB acting managing director David LaCerte and Stephen Klejst, executive director for investigations and recommendations, traveled to “engage with Federal, State and local emergency responders, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and others” and “gather information from the incident site and make a recommendation on how best to proceed,” the CSB says in a statement. Neither official has chemical manufacturing experience: LaCerte is an attorney who worked with the US Office of Personnel Management and Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs, and Klejst is a safety professional who came to the CSB from the US National Transportation Safety Board and the railroad industry. Investigators from other federal agencies have determined that the incident was not caused by suspicious or criminal activity, the CSB statement says. /safety/industrial-safety/Chemical-Safety-Board-sends-2/99/i24 20210626 Concentrates 99 24 /magazine/99/09924.html Chemical Safety Board sends 2 staff to Chemtool plant after fire Industrial safety, safety, csb, chemical safety board, chemtool, lubrizol con govpol Jyllian Kemsley safety industrial-safety business specialty-chemicals All 70 workers that were in the Chemtool plant in Rockton, Illinois, evacuated safely after it caught fire June 14.
by Jyllian Kemsley | June 26, 2021
—Company operating failures led to deaths of husband and wife from hydrogen sulfide exposure “ ” The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) places primary responsibility on Texas-based Aghorn Operating for failures that led to the death of an employee and his wife in 2019. The two died at an oil-field pumping station where water was recycled from oil operations and injected back underground to drive more oil to the surface.
by Jeff Johnson, special to C&EN | May 27, 2021
—Biden nominating 3 people to the US Chemical Safety Board “Sylvia Johnson, Steve Owens, and Jennifer Sass have strong chemical science backgrounds but lack industrial experience” President Joe Biden will nominate three new members to the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), the White House announced April 28.
by Jeff Johnson, special to C&EN | May 05, 2021
The CSB is a nonregulatory agency that investigates chemical industry incidents. The goal of a CSB investigation is to elucidate all the facts, conditions, and circumstances of an incident and recommend changes needed to prevent a similar incident in the future. The CSB was designed to be a multimember governing body of experts appointed for their technical qualifications and demonstrated knowledge in diverse fields.
by Kristen M. Kulinowski | March 14, 2021
—Beleaguered Chemical Safety Board could get more support “ ” The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB)—the independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents—could fare better under President Joe Biden than it did under former president Donald J. Trump.
by Jyllian Kemsley | February 01, 2021
The CSB is an independent, nonregulatory federal agency that investigates chemical accidents. In a Safety Spotlight report, the CSB lauds Airgas, now a subsidiary of Air Liquide, for rapidly developing and implementing a robust process safety management program (PSM) in response to an explosion in 2016 that killed one worker.
by Jeff Johnson, special to C&EN | July 30, 2020
“Leaders in the CSB/SJU Chemistry Department are working tirelessly to ensure that students continue to make progress in their coursework during this crisis.” Professors who already teach on the block plan offer advice to those who now find themselves thrown into a more accelerated schedule, whether that schedule is the one-course-at-a-time version or something else.
by Celia Henry Arnaud | July 03, 2020