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Chemical Safety Investigation Board (CSB)

2175 K. Street
NW
Suite 400
Washington
20037-1809
USA

Telephone : (202) 261-7600
Fax : (202) 261-7650
Email : info@csb.gov
Web : www.chemsafety.gov




Article archive for Chemical Safety Investigation Board (CSB)

CSB report into fatal 2011 Hawaii firework explosion and fire highlights unsafe disposal practices (21 January 2013)
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) said an explosion and fire that killed five workers during a fireworks disposal operation in Hawaii in 2011 resulted from unsafe disposal practices; insufficient safety requirements for government contractor selection and oversight; and an absence of national guidelines, standards, and regulations for fireworks disposal.  read more...

US Macondo investigator visits UK on fact-finding tour (03 May 2012)
Investigators from the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) visited the UK on a fact-finding mission to gain further understanding of the UK oil and gas industry’s regulatory regime and safety culture. The CSB was particularly interested to learn about the role of regulators, workforce engagement and how asset integrity issues are managed. read more...

Legislation snuffs out the flame (31 August 2011)
A statement by CSB Board Member William Wark has commended the State of Connecticut for enacting legislation to prohibit flammable gas blows at power plants. read more...

$300,000 in fines after refinery fire (08 March 2011)
A refinery in Texas has been fined more than $300,000 after an improperly handled release of chemicals resulted in a serious fire that severely injured one worker. read more...

CSB considers final investigation report (04 January 2011)
The CSB will hold a public meeting on January 20th, in Institute, West Virginia, to present the final report and recommendations from its investigation of the chemical processing tank explosion at the Bayer CropScience facility in Institute that fatally injured two workers. read more...

CSB wins awards for safety videos (25 November 2010)
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) received awards for two safety videos at the annual Television, Internet, and Video Association of DC (TIVA DC) dinner on Saturday, November 13. An animation depicting a massive sugar refinery explosion, which took 14 lives, won a gold award for best animation in its category. read more...

CSB launches educational outreach initiative (29 October 2010)
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has announced that educational materials concerning oil site hazards that threaten the lives of teenagers have been distributed to more than 150 Mississippi school superintendents. The CSB is calling on schools across the state to incorporate the video and lessons into school curricula. read more...

Emergency amendment to prohibit indoor purging (28 October 2010)
Statement of CSB Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso: On behalf of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), I would like to take this opportunity to commend the International Code Council’s (ICC) Board and membership for voting to approve an Emergency Amendment to the fuel gas purging requirements of the International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC) and the International Residential Code (IRC). read more...

Prohibiting natural gas blows (20 October 2010)
US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) Chairperson Rafael Moure-Eraso called for a ban on the practice of cleaning out debris from gas piping using pressurised natural gas. In a video safety message released today, Dr. Moure-Eraso called the practice, known in the industry as a gas blow, to be "inherently unsafe activity." The CSB’s safety message follows an investigation into the February 7, 2010, explosion at the Kleen Energy power plant in Middletown, Connecticut that killed six workers. read more...

Prohibiting natural gas blows at power plants (24 September 2010)
US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) Member Mark Griffon called on the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to adopt a CSB recommendation calling for natural gas blows to be prohibited during power plant construction. read more...

CSB announces internal reorganisation (17 September 2010)
CSB Chairperson and CEO Rafael Moure-Eraso announced a major realignment of the agency’s internal organisation, including creation of a position of managing director who will report to the chair. read more...

Reducing inventory of toxic methyl isocyanate (03 September 2010)
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has commenced a National Academy of Science (NAS) study on the feasibility of reducing or eliminating the inventory of highly toxic methyl isocyanate stored at the Bayer CropScience pesticide manufacturing complex located in Institute, West Virginia, near Charleston. read more...

Xcel Energy accident result of vital safety failures (26 August 2010)
The tragic accident that took the lives of five industrial painting contractors deep inside an Xcel Energy hydroelectric plant tunnel in Georgetown, Colorado, was the result of several vital safety failures, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) determined. Nationally, the investigation identified 53 serious flammable atmosphere confined space accidents that occurred from 1993 to April 2010, causing 45 fatalities and 54 injuries, the majority since 2001. read more...

Effective safeguards needed at oil and gas sites (23 August 2010)
CSB Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso called on Mississippi legislators and officials to increase safeguards at oil and gas sites across the state. Dr. Moure-Eraso spoke at a meeting of stakeholders convened by State Senator Billy Hudson to discuss the possible introduction of a bill requiring public safety measures at oil and gas sites. read more...

CSB welcomes change in gas code (11 August 2010)
The US National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has introduced an emergency change to the National Fuel Gas Code following last year’s fatal blast at ConAgra’s Slim Jim Plant in North Carolina. The accident occurred during an operation to purge air from a new steel gas-supply pipe that was connected to a newly installed industrial water heater. read more...

Preventing deadly explosions and fires (06 August 2010)
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has approved urgent safety recommendations to OSHA, NFPA and others. The draft recommendations, which were approved without amendments at a public meeting in Portland, CT, aim to prevent deadly explosions and fires during pipe cleaning and purging operations. read more...

Waste industry urged to improve safety standards (22 July 2010)
A US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) case study released on the 2009 explosion and fire at the Veolia ES Technical Solutions L.L.C. facility in West Carrollton, Ohio, calls on the industry to improve safety standards covering hazardous waste processing, handling, and storage facilities. read more...

Fatal Colorado welding accident (12 July 2010)
Dr. Rafael Moure-Eraso, chairperson and CEO of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) said he was saddened by news of the death of a Colorado welder on the 8th July while performing what is called "hot work" on a storage tank containing flammables at an environmental remediation company in Englewood, Colorado. read more...

New chairman of CSB appointed (28 June 2010)
Dr Rafael Moure-Eraso has been confirmed and appointed as the new chairman of the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB); Mark Griffon has been appointed as a new board member, filling the other vacancy on the Board. read more...

US house committee calls for Deepwater Horizon inquiry (09 June 2010)
The US House Committee on Energy and Commerce has formally requested that the CSB investigate the Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Mexican Gulf on April 20. The committee’s chairmen Henry Waxman and Bart Stupak have written to the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) requesting an investigation which will determine what factors led to the explosion and failure of the blowout prevention system of the Macondo well at the centre of the Mexican Gulf oil spill disaster. read more...

Effective hazard evaluations and gas monitoring procedures around storage tanks (08 June 2010)
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has 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. read more...

New safety recommendations needed for pipe cleaning (21 May 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 7th, has been commonly used across the gas-fired power generating industry, CSB investigators said. read more...

CSB receives European Process Safety Award (14 May 2010)
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has received the prestigious European Process Safety Centre (EPSC) Award 2010 for its CSB Safety Video series. According to Centre officials the award acknowledges 'progress toward a less-hazardous Europe' and is made to an individual or team which 'has advanced the theory or practice of process safety.' read more...

Cigarette sparks fatal oil site explosion (23 April 2010)
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has sent investigators to a fatal explosion which occurred on April 14th at 9pm at an unattended oil and gas production site that was unsecured and likely lacked fire or explosion warning signs in Weleetka, Oklahoma. A 21-year-old member of the public died of burns sustained in the explosion and fire. read more...

Deaths of teenagers in oil site explosions (14 April 2010)
The CSB has released a video “No place to hang out” focusing on the death of teenagers on oil sites. The video begins with the earnest voice of a teenager, reading her own words: read more...

US refinery blast leaves five dead (03 April 2010)
An explosion and fire at US oil refiner Tesoro’s Anacortes facility in Washington state shook homes and shot flames into the night sky early on Good Friday morning. The blaze occurred while maintenance work was being performed but was extinguished in about 90 minutes. Parts of the refinery were still operating. read more...

The hazards of welding and other hot work (30 March 2010)
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has 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. read more...

Fatal explosion at US power plant (08 February 2010)
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has deployed a seven-person team to the site of a fatal explosion at the Kleen Energy Plant in Middletown, Connecticut. The team was expected on site midday on the 8th February. The explosion occurred at approximately 11:30 a.m local time, while the plant was undergoing a test of a gas line. read more...

Gas code changes needed following fatal explosion (04 February 2010)
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is set to consider two urgent recommendations that US fuel gas codes be changed to improve safety when gas pipes are being purged during maintenance or installation of new piping. read more...

Chemical Safety Board investigates US phosgene leak (26 January 2010)
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has decided to investigate the recent accidents at DuPont’s chemical complex in Belle, West Virginia, following a release of highly toxic phosgene last Saturday that fatally injured a veteran operator, Carl Fish, who died after being treated at Charleston Area Medical Centre for exposure to the poisonous chemical. read more...

Recommendations on gas purging need to be considered (18 January 2010)
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) will be holding a public meeting on Thursday, February 4, 2010, in Raleigh, North Carolina, to 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 and injured seventy others. read more...

Concern for continued pressure vessel explosions (12 January 2010)
CSB Chairman John Bresland released a video safety message asking jurisdictions across the USA to adopt the ASME Pressure Vessel Code to reduce the number of accidents involving catastrophic pressure vessel failures in process industries. read more...

Facility safety practices investigated (11 January 2010)
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) will be conducting a full investigation of the October 23rd 2009 explosion and fire at Caribbean Petroleum Refining. CSB investigators continue to examine the events and circumstances surrounding the catastrophic tank explosion and fire. read more...

Inadequate HF water mitigation system causes Corpus Christi refinery fire (14 December 2009)
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has 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) vapour, as occurred following an explosion and fire July 19, 2009, at Citgo’s Corpus Christi refinery. read more...

Silver Eagle Refinery explosion: Surveillance video released (19 November 2009)
The CSB has released a dramatic surveillance video that underscores the seriousness of the November 4th accident at the Silver Eagle refinery and its potential to cause even more harm had the circumstances been slightly different. read more...

Fire at Tesoro Refinery in Salt Lake City (26 October 2009)
A three-person investigative team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) will be examining a fire that occurred on the 21st October at the Tesoro refinery in Salt Lake City, Utah, following a power outage earlier in the day. read more...

"Inferno: Dust explosion at Imperial Sugar" (07 October 2009)
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a 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. read more...

Oleum release caused by pump power supply lacking safeguards (06 October 2009)
The cause of the uncontrolled oleum release from INDSPEC Chemical Corporation in Petrolia, Pennsylvania, which forced the evacuation of three surrounding towns in October 2008 has been disclosed by the Chemical Safety Board (CSB). read more...

The dangers of purging gas piping into buildings (05 October 2009)
In a 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. read more...

Chemical engineers urged to be more aware of potential hazards (28 September 2009)
A report into one of the largest reactive chemical accidents to have rocked the US has recommended that chemical engineering students learn more about runaway chemical reactions during their university education. read more...

Bad design and poor maintenance caused Imperial Sugar disaster (25 September 2009)
The February 7, 2008, explosion at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, was caused by ongoing releases of sugar from inadequately designed and maintained dust collection equipment, conveyors, and sugar handling equipment. The final draft report released by CSB investigators said that inadequate housekeeping practices allowed highly combustible sugar dust and granulated sugar to build up throughout the refinery’s packing buildings. read more...

Failure of cooling system results in runaway chemical reaction (16 September 2009)
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 recommendations at a public meeting in Jacksonville this evening. read more...

Final report on fatal dust explosion at Imperial Sugar Refinery (15 September 2009)
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. read more...

Public meeting on chemical accident at laboratories (02 September 2009)
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) announced 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. read more...

Bayer CropScience investigation continues (27 August 2009)
The CSB is continuing to investigate the serious explosion that occurred one year ago at the Bayer CropScience (Bayer) pesticide manufacturing site in Institute, West Virginia. The CSB have completed the collection of most of the evidence on the causes of the explosion itself. read more...

Award for safety video on West Virginia propane explosion that killed four (17 August 2009)
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) received a key communication award from a major online learning and teaching organisation for a CSB safety video on the West Virginia propane explosion that killed four people when a convenience store blew up in January 2007. read more...

Hydrogen fluoride release sends two to hospital (10 August 2009)
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. read more...

Fuel for disaster (29 July 2009)
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a safety video depicting how accumulations of combustible dust at worksites can provide the fuel for devastating explosions that kill and maim workers, shut down plants, and harm local economies. Entitled, “Combustible Dust: An Insidious Hazard,” the video is available online at www.CSB.gov, and on YouTube. It can also be ordered free of charge on a new two-DVD set of all CSB safety videos by filling out the CSB’s online DVD request form. read more...

Fire at refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas (21 July 2009)
A four-member investigative team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is en route to the site of a fire that began on the morning of the 19th July, at the Citgo refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas. The fire broke out in the hydrogen fluoride (HF) alkylation unit, which makes high-octane gasoline components, that can be blended with motor and aviation fuel. The blaze occurred after workers responded to a leak associated with the unit. read more...

Fatal ammonia release in South Carolina (16 July 2009)
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board 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. read more...

Safety video released on need for chemical emergency preparedness (12 June 2009)
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a 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. read more...

Recommendation to regulate large fertiliser tanks (28 May 2009)
In a final report issued into the November 2008 fertiliser tank collapse at Allied Terminals in Chesapeake, VA, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) recommended that the Commonwealth of Virginia regulate or authorise local jurisdictions to regulate the design, construction, maintenance and inspection of large fertiliser storage tanks located on the Elizabeth River. read more...

Significant lapses in process safety in August 2008 Bayer CropScience explosion (24 April 2009)
The Bayer CropScience chemical facility explosion and fire that fatally injured two plant operators and potentially threatened plant neighbors likely resulted from a series of process safety management deficiencies that led to a runaway chemical reaction, U.S. Chemical Safety Board Chairman John Bresland told a House committee investigating the matter. read more...

Florida Governor encouraged to support workplace safety (27 March 2009)
In a letter released by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), Chairman John Bresland urged Florida Governor Charlie Crist to support worker-safety legislation to protect state, county, and municipal employees in Florida. read more...

Preliminary findings at Bayer Cropscience (16 March 2009)
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has announced that it will be holding a public meeting on April 23, 2009, in Institute, West Virginia, to present preliminary findings from its investigation of the August 28, 2008, chemical processing tank explosion at Bayer CropScience which fatally injured two workers. read more...

Preventing catastrophic dust explosions (05 February 2009)
Marking the first anniversary of the Imperial Sugar explosion that killed 14 workers in February 2008, CSB Chairman John Bresland released a video safety message asking federal regulators and businesses to increase efforts to prevent combustible dust fires and explosions. read more...

Coverage for all public employees (28 January 2009)
Citing a fatal explosion in Daytona Beach, Florida, in 2006, U.S. Chemical Safety Board Chairman John Bresland has issued a video safety message urging the state to move forward promptly with recommendations to extend OSHA coverage to all its public workers. read more...

CSB Investigators take another look at Silver Eagle (27 January 2009)
The hazardous area industry simply must commend the tenacity of the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) in the USA. Following a two week investigation into a flash fire at the Silver Eagle Refinery in Woods Cross, Utah, inspectors returned this week to continue their search for the causes of the incident. It is thought the fire was caused by the ignition of an unconfined petroleum vapour cloud. This all sounds rather familiar: Utah could have its own mini-Buncefield. read more...

Effective winterisation programs to prevent process accidents (08 January 2009)
In a video safety message released on YouTube, CSB Chairman John Bresland urged companies to ensure they have effective winterisation programs to prevent major chemical and refinery process accidents that could result in deaths or substantial property damage. “Winter is here,” Bresland said. “As temperatures continue to drop, it's important for process plants to be prepared for the unique safety challenges of subfreezing weather.” read more...

Process safety is vital despite deepening recession (05 January 2009)
Even as the global recession worsens, US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) Chairman John Bresland has sent the hazardous area sector a new year's message stressing that chemical companies and refineries need to continue to invest in process safety and preventive maintenance, even as the economic downturn cuts into sales and profits. In his first video safety message, Bresland insists that spending on process safety must not be overlooked despite these troubled times. read more...

Efforts to recruit investigators in Colorado continued (05 January 2009)
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is continuing to recruit chemical incident investigators to work in Denver, Colorado, in an effort to establish the agency's first regional office outside of Washington, DC. The office will be located at the federal centre in Lakewood, just west of Denver. read more...

Investigation into causes of fertiliser tank collapse (09 December 2008)
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB has issued urgent safety recommendations following the collapse of a two-million-gallon liquid fertiliser storage tank at the Allied Terminals distribution facility in Chesapeake, VA, in November 2008, urging the company to take immediate steps to safeguard three other nearby fertiliser storage tanks from possible failure. read more...

Grain dust causes US elevator blast (03 November 2008)
A grain dust explosion at the ADM/Growmark elevator in Destrehan, Louisiana, on Thursday 30th October caused considerable structural damage and resulted in 1448 homes having a power cut for approximately 90minutes. The homes were not evacuated, following the blast and no injuries were associated with the incident. read more...

Inadequate training caused propane explosion (31 October 2008)
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has concluded that inadequate propane technician and emergency responder training and unsafe propane tank placement were the primary causes of a fatal accident in January 2007 at the Little General convenience store in Ghent, West Virginia. The propane explosion on January 30, 2007, killed two emergency response workers and two propane technicians. Six others were injured. read more...

Training needs for propane emergencies (24 October 2008)
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a 23-minute safety video, 'Half an Hour to Tragedy,' based on the deadly propane gas explosion at the Little General convenience store in Ghent, West Virginia, in January 2007. The CSB's final written report on the tragedy, which killed two emergency responders and two propane technicians, was approved at a public meeting in Beckley, West Virginia, on September 25. read more...

Little General store propane explosion (09 October 2008)
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has concluded that inadequate propane technician and emergency responder training and unsafe propane tank placement were the primary causes of a fatal accident in January 2007 at the Little General convenience store in Ghent, West Virginia. read more...

Accident at rubber plant occurred during maintenance (01 October 2008)
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is investigating 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. read more...

Explosion rocks Institute agrochemicals plant (01 October 2008)
An explosion at the Bayer CropScience plant in Institute, West Virginia, rocked homes several miles away and resulted in a blaze that burned for several hours as firefighters battled it into the early morning. read more...

CSB releases Barton Solvents safety video (01 October 2008)
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a case study and safety video on the July 2007 explosion and fire at the Barton Solvents distribution facility in Valley Center, Kansas. The CSB found the most likely cause of the explosion – involving what is known as a non-conductive flammable liquid – was a static spark resulting from a loosely-linked levelmeasuring float within the tank. The spark ignited the air-vapour mixture inside the tank as it was being filled. read more...

Static spark caused fire and explosions at Barton Solvents Des Moines facility (27 September 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. One employee received minor injuries and one firefighter was treated for a heat-related illness in the accident, which occurred about 1 p.m. read more...

Explosion rocks Institute agrochemicals plant (01 September 2008)
An explosion at the Bayer CropScience plant in Institute, West Virginia, rocked homes several miles away and resulted in a blaze that burned for several hours as firefighters battled it into the early morning. Emergency sirens could be heard from the plant across the river in Jefferson where many had gathered to observe. read more...

CSB seeks to expand investigative capacity (29 August 2008)
The CSB is seeking to recruit new chemical incident investigators to work in Denver, Colorado, in an effort to establish the agency's first regional presence outside of Washington, DC. read more...

Video illustrates lack of safety systems at destroyed Massachusetts ink plant (27 August 2008)
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released a comprehensive safety video on the massive explosion which shook Danvers, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, on November 22, 2006. The video, entitled 'Blast Wave in Danvers,' is based on an 18-month CSB investigation into the accident at the CAI ink manufacturing facility. read more...

CSB to investigate storage tank explosion at Wisconsin cardboard mill that killed three (22 August 2008)
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) will investigate the storage tank explosion that killed three workers and injured a fourth at the Packaging Corporation of America corrugated cardboard mill in Tomahawk, Wisconsin, on July 29. read more...

CSB releases Barton Solvents safety video (18 August 2008)
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a case study and safety video on the July 2007 explosion and fire at the Barton Solvents distribution facility in Valley Center, Kansas. The CSB found the most likely cause of the explosion - involving what is known as a non-conductive flammable liquid - was a static spark resulting from a loosely-linked level-measuring float within the tank. The spark ignited the air-vapour mixture inside the tank as it was being filled. read more...

CSB calls for US combustible dust standard (30 July 2008)
The US Chemical Safety Board has called on OSHA to act on a November 2006 CSB recommendation to adopt a comprehensive standard regulating combustible dust in the workplace. A serious explosion and fire earlier this year that killed 13 workers at Imperial Sugar's Georgia refinery and was caused when sugar dust was ignited and exploded, demonstrates the need for a new OSHA standard that would cover a range of industries exposed to this hazard. read more...

CSB Releases Video on Fatal Explosion in Mississippi (24 July 2008)
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released a new safety video detailing an explosion that led to the deaths of three contractors at the Partridge-Raleigh oilfield in rural Raleigh, Mississippi, in June 2006. All the victims were employees of Stringer's Oilfield Services, an independent contract firm hired by Partridge-Raleigh to perform maintenance on oil storage tanks at the facility. read more...

The use of CSB safety videos to improve engineering and training (24 July 2008)
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released an analysis presenting comments from individuals who have requested and used the CSB's computer-animated safety videos, ranging from industry safety managers to emergency responders to union officials. read more...

CSB considers CAI/Arnel explosion final investigation report (24 July 2008)
The CSB has reviewed the final investigation report on the causes of the November 2006 explosion at the CAI/Arnel ink and paint manufacturing plant. The report examines company work practices, state and local licensing and permitting procedures, and state and national fire codes for the safe handling and processing of flammable liquids. read more...