The Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is an independent federal agency in the United States that is in charge of investigating and reporting on accidents involving chemicals. The agency's board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
The CSB conducts root cause investigations of chemical accidents at fixed industrial facilities. Root causes are usually deficiencies in safety management systems, but can be any factor that would have prevented the accident if that factor had not occurred. Other accident causes often involve equipment failures, human errors, unforeseen chemical reactions or other hazards. The agency does not issue fines or citations, but does make recommendations to plants, regulatory agencies such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), industry organizations, and labor groups. Congress designed the CSB to be non-regulatory and independent of other agencies so that its investigations might, where appropriate, review the effectiveness of regulations and regulatory enforcement.
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Blog
May 13, 2013 By Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal
This is my third of three posts on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) based on requests and discussions on the issue. |
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May/June 2012 Inspectioneering Journal
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) today deployed a four- person investigation team to El Dorado, Arkansas to determine the cause of an explosion and fire that severely burned and killed three workers. |
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November/December 2011 Inspectioneering Journal
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) today released its final report on a series of three accidents that occurred over a 33-hour period on January 22 and 23, 2010, at the DuPont Corporation's Belle, West Virginia, chemical manufacturing plant - including a fatal release of deadly phosgene gas, which was used as a chemical weapon in World War One. |
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January/February 2011 Inspectioneering Journal
Washington DC, January 27, 2011 - A U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) case study released today on the 2008 heat exchanger rupture and ammonia release at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Houston, Texas, identifies gaps in facility emergency response training and calls for increased adherence to existing industry codes. |
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July/August 2010 Inspectioneering Journal
In a report issued May 27, 2009 for an investigation into the November 2008 fertilizer tank collapse at Allied Terminals in Chesapeake, VA, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) recommended that the Commonwealth of Virginia regulate or authorize local jurisdictions to regulate the design, construction, maintenance and inspection of large fertilizer storage tanks located on the Elizabeth River. |
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May/June 2010 Inspectioneering Journal
Washington, DC, May 19, 2010 - 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 said today. |
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May/June 2010 Inspectioneering Journal
Washington, DC, June 7, 2010 - The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) today released a 14-minute safety video warning of the hazards of welding and other hot work activities in and around storage tanks containing flammable materials. |
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January/February 2010 Inspectioneering Journal
Washington, DC, January 25, 2010 - The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) today 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. |
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January/February 2010 Inspectioneering Journal
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) issued urgent safety recommendations calling on CITGO to immediately improve its emergency water mitigation system 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. |
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September/October 2008 Inspectioneering Journal
Washington, DC, September 18, 2008 - A fire and series of explosions at the Barton Solvents Des Moines, Iowa, chemical distribution facility on October 29, 2007, was caused by a static electrical spark resulting from inadequate electrical bonding and grounding during the filling of a portable steel tank, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) determined in a final report today. |
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September/October 2008 Inspectioneering Journal
Washington, DC, August 20, 2008 - The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) announced today that it is proceeding with an investigation of the causes of a recent accident at the Goodyear rubber manufacturing facility in southeast Houston, in which one employee was killed and approximately seven others were injured, including several contract workers who were exposed to hazardous anhydrous ammonia. |
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July/August 2008 Inspectioneering Journal
The final report calls on the American Petroleum Institute to develop improved practices for refinery freeze protection, fireproofing, isolation valves, and fire protection systems. |
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March/April 2007 Inspectioneering Journal
Sunray,Texas, March 9, 2007 - The U.S. Chemical Safety Board today announced it is conducting a full investigation of the propane fire that occurred February 16 at the Valero McKee Refinery here, seriously burning three workers and forcing the shutdown of the facility. |
This CSB video details the events leading up to the August 31, 2017 fire at the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas. The incident led to all employees and more than 200 nearby residents being evacuated for a week.
The CSB has released an animation detailing the events leading up to the February 8, 2017 explosion at the Packaging Corporation of America's DeRidder, Louisiana, pulp and paper mill. The incident killed three contract workers and injured seven.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a new 11-minute safety video describing the events leading up to the October 21, 2016 toxic chemical release at the MGPI Processing plant in Atchison, Kansas. The video, titled "Mixed Connection, Toxic Result" details key lessons from the CSB's investigation into the 2016 incident.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board released a preliminary animation detailing the events of the chemical fires at the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas after it suffered power loss due to Hurricane Harvey's historic rainfall.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a new 8-minute safety video describing the events leading to the November 22, 2016 fire at ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge refinery, which severely burned four workers. The video, entitled "Fire in Baton Rouge," details the CSB's Key Lessons stemming from the 2016 incident.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a 3-minute animation describing the events leading to the November 22, 2016 fire at ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge refinery, which severely burned four workers. The fire erupted during maintenance activities in the refinery’s sulfuric acid alkylation unit.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released an animation depicting the February 18, 2015 explosion and fire at the ExxonMobil (now PBF Energy) refinery in Torrance, CA.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a video demonstrating the agency's positive safety impact in 2016. The video was posted just days after President Trump proposed his "America First" budget plan, which calls for the elimination of the CSB all together.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a safety video detailing its investigation of the June 13, 2013 explosion and fire at the Williams Olefins Plant in Geismar, Louisiana, which killed two workers and injured an additional 167.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a safety video into the fatal April 17, 2013, fire and explosion at the West Fertilizer Company in West, Texas, which resulted in 15 fatalities, more than 260 injuries, and widespread community damage. The deadly fire and explosion occurred when about thirty tons of fertilizer grade ammonium nitrate (FGAN) exploded after being heated by a fire at the storage and distribution facility.
U.S. Chemical Safety Board safety video discussing the massive 2009 explosion at the Caribbean Petroleum, or CAPECO, terminal facility near San Juan, Puerto Rico. The incident occurred when gasoline overflowed and sprayed out from a large aboveground storage tank, forming a 107-acre vapor cloud that ignited.
U.S. Chemical Safety Board safety video depicting the accident at DuPont’s La Porte facility, located east of Houston, which killed four workers and injured a fifth when methyl mercaptan, a toxic chemical used in the company’s insecticide and fungicide manufacturing process, was released.
U.S. Chemical Safety Board safety video discussing the fatal April 2, 2010, explosion and fire at the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, Washington. A nearly 40-year-old heat exchanger violently ruptured, causing an explosion and fire that fatally injured seven workers – the largest loss of life at a U.S. refinery since 2005.
U.S. Chemical Safety Board safety video discussing the 2010 Macondo tragedy where a failed blowout preventer caused a sudden explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, resulting in the deaths of 11 workers and causing a massive oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board has released a computer animation recreating the explosion and fire that killed seven workers at the Tesoro Refinery in Anacortes, Washington on April 2, 2010. The five-minute animation illustrates the process of "high temperature hydrogen attack," which over the years damaged and weakened a nearly forty-year-old carbon steel heat exchanger, leading to a catastrophic rupture on the night of the accident.
U.S. Chemical Safety Board safety video covering the 2009 explosion at NDK Crystal in Belvidere, Illinois, which fatally injured a truck driver at a nearby gas station. The CSB found that the catastrophic pressure vessel explosion resulted from stress corrosion cracking and that the operator not only failed to inspect or test the vessels, but they failed to heed 3rd party warnings about risk to the public.
CSB video excerpts from Dr. Trevor Kletz, a world renowned expert in chemical process safety, who died October 31, 2013.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board releases an animation of the August, 2012 incident at Chevron's Richmond, CA refinery.
U.S. Chemical Safety Board safety video covering three accidents that occurred over a 33-hour period in 2010 at the Dupont plant in Belle, WV.
Marking the one year anniversary of the tragic accident at the Tesoro Refinery in Anacortes, Washington, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released a video safety message.
U.S. Chemical Safety Board safety video depicting events leading to the August 28, 2008, catastrophic explosion and fire at the Bayer CropScience facility in Institute, WV, that fatally injured two workers and injured eight.
U.S. Chemical Safety Board safety video discussing the dangers of intentionally releasing natural gas into work areas.
U.S. Chemical Safety Board safety video discussing key lessons to prevent flammable vapor explosions caused by welding and cutting.
U.S. Chemical Safety Board safety video discussing how improperly installed or modified pressure vessels have led to a number of serious chemical accidents.
As temperatures continue to drop, it's important for process plants to be prepared for the unique safety challenges of subfreezing weather, according to U.S. Chemical Safety Board Chairman John Bresland.
Refineries and chemical plants are facing serious economic difficulties but still need to maintain their focus on process safety, according to U.S. Chemical Safety Board Chairman John Bresland.
U.S. Chemical Safety Board safety video depicting how a fire cripples a refinery after propane leaks from a frozen dead leg.
U.S. Chemical Safety Board safety video depicts the massive explosion that killed 15 and injured 180 at the BP Texas City refinery in 2005.
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U.S. Chemical Safety Board, August 30, 2016
An investigative team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is deploying to the scene of an incident that fatally injured one worker at an Airgas facility near Pensacola, Florida. |
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U.S. Chemical Safety Board, January 28, 2016
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) will vote on its final report and safety recommendations on the 2013 West Fertilizer fire and explosion at a public meeting at 6:00 p.m. tonight in Waco, Texas. The meeting will be available via webcast at http://clevr.me/hosted/bmt-csb/. |
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U.S. Chemical Safety Board, January 15, 2016
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) will convene a public meeting on Thursday, January 28, 2016, in Waco, Texas, at the Hilton Waco from 6 to 9 p.m. CST to present the investigation report and safety recommendations from the April 17, 2013, ammonium nitrate fire and explosion at the West Fertilizer facility in West, Texas. |
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U.S. Chemical Safety Board, January 13, 2016
An ongoing investigation by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) of the February 18, 2015 explosion at the ExxonMobil Refinery in Torrance, California, has uncovered multiple process safety management deficiencies that led to the accident and a serious near miss. |
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U.S. Chemical Safety Board, September 21, 2015
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) will convene a public meeting on Wednesday, September 30, 2015, in Houston, Texas, at The Hilton Americas – Houston Hotel from 6 to 9 p.m. CDT to hear and vote on investigators’ findings and safety recommendations from the November 2014 chemical release at the DuPont La Porte facility that killed four workers. |
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U.S. Chemical Safety Board, June 30, 2015
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has recently voted unanimously to update the status of fifteen safety recommendations resulting from nine accident investigations, including... |
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CSB, May 1, 2015
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) will hold a public business meeting on Wednesday, May 6, 2015, to address several mission related issues including the status of an investigation plan, protocol and governance policies. |
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CSB, March 10, 2015
The July 2010 explosion and fire at the former Horsehead zinc refinery in Monaca, Pennsylvania, likely resulted from a buildup of superheated liquid zinc inside a ceramic zinc distillation column, which then “explosively decompressed” and ignited, according to a technical analysis released today by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB). |
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CSB, January 23, 2015
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) will hold a public meeting on January 28, 2015, to present the third and final investigation report and safety recommendations from the August 6, 2012, crude unit fire that occurred at the Chevron Refinery in Richmond, CA. That fire endangered 19 workers and sent more than 15,000 residents to the hospital for medical attention. |
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US Chemical Safety Board, December 1, 2014
Today the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) formally announced that to “Modernize U.S. Process Safety Management Regulations” is the Board’s newest Most Wanted Safety Improvement, concluding that implementation of key federal and state CSB safety recommendations will result in significant improvement of Process Safety Management (PSM) regulations in the United States. |
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US Chemical Safety Board, November 17, 2014
According to DuPont officials and media reports, four people were killed when methyl mercaptan, a toxic chemical used as feedstock to make insecticides and fungicide, was released into the air. |
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US Chemical Safety Board, November 11, 2014
In its final Regulatory Report entitled "Regulatory Report: Chevron Richmond Refinery Pipe Rupture and Fire,” the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) proposes recommendations for substantial changes to the way refineries are regulated in California. The CSB calls on California to enhance its process safety management (PSM) regulations for petroleum refineries to ensure a more robust and adaptive regulatory regime. |
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US Chemical Safety Board, October 28, 2014
Today the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released a safety video into the fatal April 2, 2010, explosion and fire at the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, Washington. |
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US Chemical Safety Board, October 9, 2014
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board today released a video safety message discussing the role that the CSB recommendations program plays in ensuring that the Board’s accident investigations have a lasting impact on industrial safety. |
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US Chemical Safety Board, August 26, 2014
Earlier this month a team of CSB investigators deployed to the Omega Protein facility in Moss Point, Mississippi, where a tank explosion on July 28, 2014, killed a contract worker and severely injured another. Our team, working alongside federal OSHA inspectors, found that the incident occurred during hot work on or near a tank containing eight inches of a slurry of water and fish matter known as "stickwater." |
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US Chemical Safety Board, August 15, 2014
The U.S. CSB released a report on tubing samples taken from the Tesoro Refinery in Martinez, California, concluding that a sulfuric acid spill resulted from insufficient tightening between a tube and a compression joint at a sulfuric acid sampling station. |
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US Chemical Safety Board, June 5, 2014
The blowout preventer (BOP) that was intended to shut off the flow of high-pressure oil and gas from the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico during the disaster on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on April 20, 2010, failed to seal the well because drill pipe buckled for reasons the offshore drilling industry remains largely unaware of, according to a new two-volume draft investigation report released today by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB). |
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US Chemical Safety Board, April 22, 2014
Today the CSB released preliminary findings into the April 17, 2013, West Fertilizer explosion and fire in West, Texas, which resulted in at least 14 fatalities, 226 injuries, and widespread community damage. |
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US Chemical Safety Board, April 13, 2014
At the public meeting, the board will hear preliminary findings from the CSB's investigation team into the April 17, 2013, fire and massive explosion which occurred at the West Fertilizer Company/Adair Grain facility in West, Texas, that killed 14 people and injured more than 250 neighboring residents and emergency responders. |
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US Chemical Safety Board, April 1, 2014
Today the CSB announced that it will be holding a May 1, 2014, public meeting in Anacortes, WA, to release and vote on its final report into the April 2, 2010, fatal explosion and fire at the Tesoro Refinery in Anacortes, WA. |
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US Chemical Safety Board, February 24, 2014
This report is an important milestone for improving refinery safety across the State of California and effectively addressing many of the CSB’s safety recommendations contained in our Chevron refinery accident report released in April 2013. |
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US Chemical Safety Board, January 30, 2014
The April 2010 fatal explosion and fire at the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, Washington was caused by damage to the heat exchanger, a mechanism known as “high temperature hydrogen attack” or HTHA. |
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US Chemical Safety Board, January 11, 2014
An investigative team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is deploying to the scene of a massive spill into the Elk River in Charleston, WV. |
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Chemical Safety Board, December 16, 2013
In a draft report released to the public on December 16, 2013, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) proposes recommendations for substantial changes to the way refineries are regulated in California. Entitled “Regulatory Report: Chevron Richmond Refinery Pipe Rupture and Fire,” the CSB draft calls on California to replace the current patchwork of largely reactive and activity-based regulations with a more rigorous, performance-based regulatory regime – similar to those successfully adopted overseas in regions such as the United Kingdom, Norway, and Australia – known as the “safety case” system. |
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United States Chemical Safety Board, November 14, 2013
An explosion which occurred December 7, 2009, at the NDK Crystal manufacturing company in Belvidere, Illinois, fatally injuring a truck driver at a nearby gas station on the Illinois Tollway, resulted from corrosion in the walls of a pressure vessel, which went uninspected for years. |
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US CSB, August 1, 2013
I applaud the issuance of the Executive Order entitled, “Improving Chemical Facility Safety and Security.” Increased coordination, communication, and data collection amongst federal, state, tribal, and local agencies should result in action and assist community members and emergency responders in helping to prevent and respond to chemical incidents. |
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US CSB, July 24, 2013
U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) Chairperson Rafael Moure-Eraso today commended the E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company for fully embracing four CSB recommendations aimed at improving its hot work safety procedures. |
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US CSB, July 15, 2013
Today the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) announced that it will hold a July 25, 2013, public meeting in Washington, to consider whether the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has adequately implemented seven regulatory recommendations issued by the CSB, as well as to consider the selection of the agency’s first “Most Wanted Chemical Safety Improvement” issue. |
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US CSB, June 14, 2013
An investigative team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is deploying to the scene of a fire and explosion that occurred on Thursday June 13, 2013, at the William Olefins Inc, Plant located in Geismar, Louisiana. |
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US CSB, May 16, 2013
West, Texas, May 16, 2013 – As other agencies wrapped up their on-site investigations into the ammonium nitrate explosion at West Fertilizer in West, Texas, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) announced its work to examine all aspects of the tragedy will continue in the town of West, at the Western Regional Office in Denver, and at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC. |
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US CSB, April 17, 2013
A large investigation team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is deploying to the scene of a massive fire and explosion at the West Fertilizer Plant located in West, Texas, north of Waco. |
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US CSB, February 13, 2013
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) today released a technical evaluation report on piping samples taken from the Chevron Refinery in Richmond, California, where a hydrocarbon release and massive fire occurred on August 6, 2012. |
