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CSB agency and chemical accidents

CSB

The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating serious chemical accidents. The agency's board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in regulations, industry standards, and safety management systems.

The Board does not issue citations or fines but does make safety recommendations to plants, industry organizations, labor groups, and regulatory agencies such as OSHA and EPA.

As mentioned in previous comments by ATEX Explosion Hazards Limited, accidents in Hazardous waste plants are too common.

On December 17, 2011, a chemical fire occurred at Heritage-WTI, Inc. which resulted in two workers being seriously burned, one of whom succumbed to his injuries days later. Heritage-WTI, Inc, is a hazardous waste storage and processing facility located in East Liverpool, Ohio. According to company officials a flash fire occurred when workers were splitting a large solid waste drum of hazardous flammable inorganic material into smaller storage drums. 

The CSB’s EQ case study found 21 other fire and chemical release incidents at hazardous waste facilities in the United States that occurred from 2002 – 2007. These incidents resulted in two fatalities, 16 injuries, and eight community evacuations, shelter-in-place events, or transportation disruptions.

The CSB also investigated a 2009 explosion and fire at the Veolia ES Technical Solutions L.L.C. facility in West Carrollton, Ohio. The accident occurred when flammable vapor was released from a waste recycling process, ignited, and violently exploded. The blast seriously injured two workers and damaged 20 nearby residences and five businesses

More work needs to be done by this industry in co-operation with the NFPA to reduce this risk