U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) News

39 respondents (63%) said their companies had at some time used flammable gas to blow out piping A CSB public meeting is planned next month in Connecticut to consider new safety recommendations. The practice of using flammable natural gas to clean power plant piping, which led to the fatal explosion at Connecticut-based Kleen Energy on February 7, has been commonly used across the gas-fired power generating industry, CSB investigators have said. The explosion,...

CSB received the award for its safety video series used to promote chemical process safety around the world EPSC was founded by the European Federation of Chemical Engineering and has a membership that includes leading chemical companies, manufacturers, contractors, consultants, and academic institutions. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has received the prestigious European Process Safety Centre (EPSC) Award 2010 for the CSB Safety Video series, Centre off...

Use of Methyl Isocyanate is a big security concern for workers and people living in its proximity The Congressionally mandated study was initiated after the 2008 explosion at Bayer’s Chemical Complex in Institute, West Virginia. Congress has also appropriated $600,000 to CSB for current fiscal year. In a Federal Register notice published on April 23, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) announced it is seeking public comment on the design of a Congressionally manda...

The site of the fire and explosion lacked warning signs CSB investigators determined that a lit cigarette or lighter was the likely ignition source for explosion.A fiery explosion that took the life of a 21-year-old member of the public in Weeletka, Oklahoma, on April 14 occurred at an unattended oil and gas production site that was unsecured and likely lacked fire or explosion warning signs, CSB investigators have determined following a four-day field assessment. Investiga...

Oil and Gas sites are prone to explosions and mishaps due to their highly inflammable property On April 13, 2010, CSB released a safety video aimed at educating young people on the hazards of socialising at oil sites, a common phenomenon in rural areas. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) announced it has sent investigators to a fatal explosion which occurred on April 14, 2010, at an oil site in Weleetka, Oklahoma. The CSB team is headed by Investigations Supervisor...

The 11-minute safety video is aimed at preventing loss of life due to fire accidents The 11-minute video is available on CSB.gov and YouTube and will be released on free DVDs, which can be requested from the CSB's online video room.The video begins with the earnest voice of a teenager, reading her own words: "My name is Shawn-Ashlee Davis. I am a senior at Forrest County Agricultural High School in Mississippi. And on October 31, 2009, two people who were very...

CSB investigates the fire and explosion at Tesoro refinery, Salt Lake city, Utah CSB has been doing major investigative work with regard to accidents occurring across the US refineries. A four-member investigative team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is deploying to the scene of an explosion and fire which happened overnight in a naphtha hydro treater unit at the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, Washington.Four workers were reported to be killed and four were hospita...

  Deadly explosion at PCA corrugated mill in Wisconsin The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) recently issued a safety bulletin warning of the hazards of conducting hot work in a variety of industries and identifying seven key lessons aimed at preventing worker deaths during hot work in and around storage tanks containing flammable materials. Hot work is defined as any work activity that involves burning, welding, cutting, brazing, grinding, soldering, or similar spa...

Don Holmstrom has updated the public on CSB's investigation of the catastrophic accident at Kleen Energy A transcript of the statement by CSB Lead Investigator Don Holmstrom."Good morning. I am CSB Lead Investigator Don Holmstrom; thank you for coming to this CSB news conference. The Chemical Safety Board is an independent federal agency that investigates and reports to the public on the causes of major chemical accidents at industrial sites across the country. The CSB...

The catastrophic explosion resulted from the accumulation of significant amounts of natural gas The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is set to consider two urgent recommendations that national fuel gas codes be changed to improve safety when gas pipes are being purged (cleared of air) during maintenance or installation of new piping. The recommendations - to be voted on by board members at a CSB public meeting in Raleigh tonight - grow out of the CSB's ongoing federal inves...

CSB will investigate the 7 January explosion that severely injured a student at Texas Tech University The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) will investigate the causes of a January 7 explosion that severely injured a graduate student at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, the CSB has announced. University officials told the CSB the accident occurred in the chemistry department during the handling of a high-energy metal compound, which suddenly detonated. Texas Tech...

CSB has voted to initiate an investigation of recent accidents at the DuPont chemical complex in Belle The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has voted to initiate an investigation of recent accidents at the DuPont chemical complex in Belle, West Virginia, following a release of highly toxic phosgene on Saturday that fatally injured a veteran operator. DuPont officials told the CSB that a braided steel hose connected to a one-ton capacity phosgene tank suddenly ruptured,...

The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has announced that it will be holding a public meeting on Thursday, February 4, 2010, in Raleigh, North Carolina.The meeting will present preliminary findings from its investigation of the June 9, 2009, natural gas explosion and ammonia release at the ConAgra Food Slim Jim facility in Garner, North Carolina, that killed four workers an...

CSB publishes voting records of the Board and copies of Board orders that govern agency operations Washington, DC, January 8, 2010 - As part of an ongoing effort to increase transparency and promote public understanding of the agency's work, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) today began publishing voting records of the Board and copies of Board orders that govern agency operations. The CSB released board voting records dating from November 10, 2009, to the present and po...

CSB today issued urgent safety recommendations calling on CITGO to improve its emergency water The U.S. Chemical Safety Board  (CSB) has issued urgent safety recommendations calling on CITGO to immediately improve its emergency water mitigation system.The recommendation comes in the event of another release of potentially deadly hydrogen fluoride (HF) vapor, as occurred following an explosion and fire July 19, 2009, at CITGO's Corpus Christi refinery. The...

The CSB investigative team plans to thoroughly examine the facility's fire safety practice CSB investigators continue to examine the events and circumstances surrounding the catastrophic tank explosion and fire. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has announced that it will be conducting a full investigation of the October 23, 2009 explosion and fire at Caribbean Petroleum Refining.  At 12:23 a.m. on October 23, a large vapor cloud ignited at the Caribbean Pet...

There was flash fire at the same refinery in January,  when a flammable vapour cloud ignited A six-member team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is deploying to the scene of today's explosion and fire at the Silver Eagle Refinery in Woods Cross, Utah. According to local officials, the explosion in the diesel hydrotreater unit caused damage to homes in the surrounding area and was felt several miles away from the facility. The CSB is investigating a January 2009...

An image from CSB's new safety video on the Imperial Sugar explosion Video includes 3D animation of explosion The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) today released a new nine-minute safety video on the combustible dust explosion at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, which claimed the lives of 14 workers, injured 36, and caused extensive property damage on February 7, 2008.Entitled "Inferno: Dust Explosion at Imperial Sugar," the video includes a new four-...

The scene following the explosion at the Slim Jim plant in June 2009 Advice follows fatal June, 2009 accident at processing plant In a new safety bulletin based on preliminary findings from the ConAgra Foods natural gas explosion in Garner, North Carolina, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) urged companies, gas installers, and contractors to follow safe practices during gas purging operations, including venting purged gases outdoors whenever practicable.The explosion, whi...

An image taken after the explosion at the Imperial Sugar Refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia in February 2008 Report concludes inadequate equipment design, maintenance and housekeeping led to explosions In a final draft report released today, CSB investigators said the February 7, 2008, explosion at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, resulted from ongoing releases of sugar from inadequately designed and maintained dust collection equipment, conveyors, a...

An image from the new safety video issued by CSB, which depicts the fatal chemical accident at T2 Laboratories Video depicts reactive chemical accident at T2 Laboratories that killed four, injured 32 The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) today released a new nine-minute computer animated safety video depicting the tragic reactive chemical accident that devastated T2 Laboratories in Jacksonville, Florida. Entitled "Runaway: Explosion at T2 Laboratories," the video detai...

The scene of the explosion at T2 Laboratories in December 2007 Report notes company did not recognize hazards of chemical process The massive December 2007 explosion and fire at T2 Laboratories in Jacksonville was caused by a runaway chemical reaction that likely resulted from an inadequate reactor cooling system, investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) said in a final draft report released today. The Board is to vote on the report findings and recommendatio...

The Imperial Sugar refinery following the fatal explosion in 2008 Board will consider final investigation report on fatal dust explosion at Imperial Sugar refinery The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) announced that it will convene a public meeting on Thursday September 24, 2009, in Savannah, Georgia, to review the final CSB investigation report on the causes of the February 2008 dust explosions and fire at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia. The me...

The site of the fatal 2007 explosion at T2 Laboratories, Inc. Final report will be presented; first responders invited to attend The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) announced today that it will convene a public meeting on Tuesday, September 15, 2009, in Jacksonville, Florida, at which CSB investigators will present their final report on the causes of the fatal December 2007 explosion at T2 Laboratories Inc., a local chemical manufacturer.The meeting will begin at 6:00 pm a...

CSB Director of Public Affairs John Horowitz accepts the MERLOT award for one of its educational safety videos Safety video hailed as 'extremely effective' U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) received a key communication award from a major online learning and teaching organization for a CSB safety video on the West Virginia propane explosion that killed four people when a convenience store blew up in January 2007. The award, presented Thursday, August 13, 2009 by the Multimed...

CSB will investigate the accidental releases of propane and hydrogen fluoride from an ExxonMobil refinery CSB to investigate cause of a run of similar incidents A four-member investigative team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is deploying to the site of a release of propane and hydrogen fluoride at the ExxonMobil refinery in Joliet, Illinois.At approximately 12:30 pm on Thursday, there was a sudden release of propane and hydrogen fluoride (HF) from the vicinity of...

HazMat responders at work: CSB will investigate the fatal release of ammonia at Tanner Industries HazMat incident has tragic consequences The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is deploying an investigation team to the site of an anhydrous ammonia release that occurred earlier today at Tanner Industries, located south of Swansea, South Carolina, the agency announced. According to media reports, a woman driving her car near the facility was overcome by the ammonia vapor and w...

CSB has released a video detailing the need for chemical emergency preparedness New video is based on findings from a decade of CSB accident investigations The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) today released a new safety video showing the need for emergency response agencies, companies, and communities to work closely together to prepare for the kinds of tragic chemical accidents the CSB has investigated over the past decade. The new video, entitled "Emergency Preparedness:...