On 4 September, the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) issued a new safety digest on the value of worker participation to prevent chemical incidents. The digest notes that lack of worker participation was a factor in several major incidents investigated by the CSB because workers and their representatives were not engaged to help identify hazards and reduce risks.
The digest discusses four incidents that led to a total of 13 employee deaths, many injuries, and in one case, 15,000 residents living near a facility seeking medical attention. The incidents took place at an explosives manufacturing site, a chemical production facility and two oil refineries. They occurred in Nevada, Washington, California and Louisiana. Each of these CSB investigations found that worker participation programs were inadequate, despite the existence of federal regulations and industry standards.
The safety digest can be found on CSB’s website.
