Fulfilling the US Chemical Safety Board's full potential

The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is a federal agency founded in 1990 by Clean Air Act Amendments to conduct root cause investigations of chemical accidents at fixed industrial facilities. Root causes are deficiencies in safety management systems, but can be any factor that would prevent the accident if that factor had not occurred. The agency does not issue fines or citations, but makes recommendations to facilties, regulatory agencies, industry organizations and labor. The CSB was designed to be non-regulatory and independent of other agencies so that it could review the effectiveness of regulations and regulatory enforcement. In 2009 the CSB failed to initiate full investigations, investigate fully or issue appropriate recommendations. A coalition of AFL-CIO and Change to Win labor unions issued joint press releases which resulted in improved CSB actions and recommendations. The CSB is currently investigating the gas explosion in Middleton, CT that resulted in 5 deaths and numerous serious injuries. Local law enforcement agencies initially excluded CSB access to the explosion scene, from interviewing workers or insuring preservation of key evidence and had questionable procedures for evidence preservation. Only 4 of 5 CSB positions were filled in 2008 and only 3 as of November 2009. A panel of the ICWUC, USW, and a former CSB Member will review the last 18 months of CSB activity, obstacles, and strategies to build the CSB into an active and robust federal agency, one part of bringing social justice and preventive health principals to these workplaces and their communities.