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Budget Cuts Series: The Chemical Safety Board
In this series, which will unfortunately have dozens of posts, we will examine the White House proposed budget cuts to learn what's hidden beneath the surface and later update based on Congressional budget proposals and actions.
Have you ever heard of the Chemical Safety Board (CSB)? Chances are you haven't unless you work in certain industries. How important can it be then? Extremely, as it turns out. It's among many similar government agencies proposed to be eliminated or have funding reduced to end their effectiveness. So why does the CSB matter?
While little known to the masses, the CSB is to chemical disasters what the much better-funded National Transportation Safety Board is to airline crashes, train derailments and bridge collapses. Without the recommendations that come from these boards, preventable accidents repeat themselves.
A Houston Chronicle investigation last year found that federal agencies, including the CSB, don't have enough resources to provide adequate oversight to facilities that handle dangerous chemicals.
CSB not only investigates accidents but also provides recommendations so that lesson are learned, mistakes are not repeated, and lives are saved.
It's also the only agency that investigates chemical accidents without companies having to worry about fines or indictments. That's because its focus is finding root causes and lessons that can be shared across industries. And it examines the failings of regulators. Sam Mannan, director of the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center at Texas A&M University, called elimination of the CSB a "really sad matter." "Everyone uses the CSB's videos and reports," he said.
At least 61 people have died in U.S. chemical plants since 2013.
Additional reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/samlemonick/2017/03/17/what-is-the-chemical-safety-board/#4c8545afda32