A series of recent incidents has the Chemical Safety Board taking a harder look at its "Most Wanted" list of safety improvements. The CSB has updated the list to include preventive maintenance and emergency response and planning.
According to an article from Safety & Health, the CSB finds preventive maintenance as the root cause behind many of the incidents it investigates, including the 2010 explosion at the Tesoro Corp. refinery in Anacortes, WA and the 2012 Chevron refinery fire in Richmond, CA. The CSB also identifies inadequate or poor emergency response and planning in its investigation of incidents including the ammonium nitrate explosion and fire at the West Fertilizer Co. in West, TX. According to the article, CSB Chair Vanessa Sutherland will lead the preventive maintenance issue and board member Manuel Ehrlich will head up emergency planning and response.
Read the entire article here.
For a broader perspective of Vanessa Sutherland's plans for the CSB, see "Chemical Safety Board Opens Up."
