Review - CSB Updates Status on 10 Accident Investigation Recommendations – 8-15-24

Yesterday, the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) updated their “Recent Recommendation Status Updates” web page to reflect status change actions the Board took on August 15^th, 2024. Five recommendations were closed with an ‘acceptable response’ or an ‘acceptable alternative response’ status and five remain open with a ‘no response received’ status.

The closed recommendations were:

2011-06-I-HI-R4, Donaldson Enterprises, Inc. Fatal Fireworks Disassembly Explosion and Fire, Hawaii Dept of Treasury,

2021-02-I-WV-R10, Optima Belle LLC Explosion and Fire, Richman Chemical Inc. (RCI),

2019-04-I-PA-R2, Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) Refinery Fire and Explosion, US EPA,

2020-02-I-TX-R4, TPC Port Neches Explosions and Fire, American Chemistry Council (ACC), and

2020-02-I-TX-R5, TPC Port Neches Explosions and Fire, American Chemistry Council (ACC),

 

For more information on the actions that led to the Boards updates, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/csb-updates-status-on-10-accident - subscription required.

Review - CSB Adds Three New Safety Recommendations – 7-23-24

Yesterday, the Chemical Safety Board added three new safety recommendations to their list of open recommendations. The new recommendations are based upon an as of yet unpublished safety study: “CSB Safety Study: Remote Isolation of Process Equipment”. I expect that the report will be released at today’s Public Business Meeting.

In regards to the study, the CSB notes:

“Over the last several years, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) has reviewed and investigated numerous incidents where the consequences of these occurrences escalated following a loss of containment due to the lack of effective remote isolation equipment. These incidents resulted in serious injuries, fatalities, environmental contamination, and severe damage to facilities.”

The recommendations were made to the following entities:

• American Petroleum Institute - 2024-01-H-1,

• Environmental Protection Agency - 2024-01-H-2, and

• Occupational Safety and Health Administration - 2024-01-H-3