CSB Announces Bio-Lab (Westlake, LA) Fire Safety Video

Yesterday the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) announced the release of their new safety video, called “Fire From the Storm: Chemical Release at Bio-Lab”. The video documents the events that led to the fire and hazardous chemical release that occurred at the Westlake, LA Bio-Lab facility in August 2020. The CSB published their report on the incident April 24^th, 2023.

While this incident is an example of inadequate planning for extreme weather, the CSB also commented on the similarities between the Louisianna incident and last September’s incident in Conyers, GA:

“When announcing the video today, CSB Chairperson Steve Owens stated: “The substance involved in the 2020 fire and toxic gas release at the Bio-Lab facility in Louisiana is the same substance involved in the catastrophic chemical fire last fall at Bio-Lab’s facility in Conyers, Georgia, that began on September 29, 2024, as well as another fire and toxic gas release that had occurred at the Bio-Lab Conyers facility in September 2020 shortly after the Louisiana event.  These dangerous events underscore the need for Bio-Lab and other chemical facilities to have more effective safeguards in place to prevent hazards from reactive chemicals that put communities and workers at serious risk, as well as the need for EPA, OSHA, and other regulatory agencies to take comprehensive action to protect against reactive hazards.””

The video addresses the five key safety concerns that contributed to the fire and release:

• Extreme weather preparation,

• Process hazard analyses implementation,

• Emergency preparedness and response,

• Adherence to applicable hazardous materials code, and

• Regulatory coverage of reactive chemical hazards.

CSB Announces Release of New HCl Release Safety Video

Yesterday, the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) announced [added link, 10-18-24 07:00 EDT] the release of their latest safety video dealing with the November 13, 2020 release of hydrogen chloride at a chemical manufacturing facility in Charleston, Tennessee. The CSB released their final report on that incident in June of 2023. That report noted (pg 7) that:

“The location of the release and the workers’ inability to clearly see their surroundings in the white cloud created by the releasing HCl prevented all the workers from being able to access the staircase to exit the platform. To escape from the HCl release, three of the contractor workers who were not wearing full-body chemical-resistant suits began climbing down piping on the side of the structure, located approximately 70 feet above the ground. While attempting to climb down, all three workers fell to the ground. One worker was fatally injured from the fall, and the other two sustained serious injuries.”

The video looks at the causes of the chemical leak and shows what, according to the investigation, happened during the incident, and identified four safety issues involved in the release and resulting response.