230108 Preventing Catastrophic Chemical Accidents--The Role and Impact of the US Chemical Safety Board

Monday, November 8, 2010

Manuel Gomez, DrPH, MS, CIH , US Chemical Safety Board, Washington, DC
The effective prevention of chemical accidents and releases are of increasing interest to industry, workers, community residents and policymakers. The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB/Chemical Safety Board) was created by the Clean Air Act of 1992 to improve chemical safety by investigating chemical incidents and process safety hazards and issuing reports with recommendations for changes in public and private policy. Funded in 1998, the CSB is modeled after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), of airline and other transportation accident reputation. The CSB has issued more than 550 recommendations since it began operations in earnest in 1998. An increasing number are receiving national attention, as well as becoming the subject of important actions by federal and state agencies, as well as industry and other sectors. While the CSB's recommendations have no regulatory or enforcement authority, over the last decade they have had an impact that is arguably disproportionate to its small size and modest resources. The presentation will analyze the major CSB recommendations with an impact on prevention and public policy for chemical disasters, describe some connections between the work of the CSB and more “traditional” areas of occupational health and safety, examine the reasons for the CSB's apparent success, and postulate possible future directions for the agency's work.

Learning Areas:
Environmental health sciences
Occupational health and safety
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Briefly describe the CSB and its mission; Analyze CSB recommendations as primary tool for prevention and impact on public policy; Discuss connections between CSB work and “traditional” areas of occupational health and safety; Analyze reasons for the success of the CSB in affecting public policy; Identify possible future directions for the CSB’s work.

Keywords: Disasters, Occupational Injury and Death

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to present because I am the Director of Recommendations for the US Chemical Safety Board, partly responsible for developoment of recommendations and fully responsible for follow-up, advocacy and evaluation.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.