Chemical Engineering July 2012 - 49

Solids Processing
You & Your Job
Working with the CSB
After a Major Accident
When a serious accident occurs,
the CSB may immediately investigate at the scene.
Understanding the process helps companies
prepare for such an investigation
Joseph Schreiber
Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease
A
fter a serious accident at a
chemical plant, petroleum refinery
or other freestanding
industrial facility, the U.S.
Chemical Safety Board (CSB; www.
csb.gov) may immediately initiate an
investigation, often getting " in the air "
while the emergency is still unfolding.
The CSB team will consist of skilled
accident investigators who are often
accompanied by independent experts
noted for their specialized knowledge
of whatever systems or processes are
to be investigated. They also arrive
with legal authority - sometimes in
the embodiment of accompanying federal
marshals. All in all, the process
is unlike anything you've ever experienced
if your experience is limited
to the U.S. Occupational Safety and
Health Admin. (OSHA). This article
aims to provide a sense of that process
as well as some suggestions for managing
it.
CSB agents come not with the
power to levy fines but with a potentially
much greater power: the power
to shape the narrative of the accident,
to frame the questions that define the
cause of the accident and to establish
fault; all of which is then neatly packaged
in a report oftentimes including
a dramatic reconstruction of the
event, which may be admissible in
the tort suit that is sure to follow any
accident. Since the cost of a tort suit
- in legal fees and settlement costs
- may far exceed any agency fines, a
CSB investigation is a serious affair
that may create significant risks if it
is handled improperly.
As most chemical engineers are
aware, the CSB is an independent
federal agency charged with investigating
industrial chemical accidents.
The CSB staff includes chemical and
mechanical engineers, industrial
safety experts, and other specialists
with experience in private and public
sectors. It may hire someone with expertise
in your particular product or
process - perhaps even someone who
has published articles about it in the
scientific literature.
When thinking about the CSB the
following analogy, though imperfect,
may help: The CSB is to OSHA as
the National Transportation Safety
Board (NTSB) is to the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA). Both the
CSB and NTSB are investigatory and
advising bodies. They have no inherent
power to fine. But, their recommendations
are taken very seriously
by both the government and by the
legal system.
Process safety management
The CSB conducts a root cause analysis.
Because the goal of the CSB is to
prevent future accidents and because,
philosophically, it believes most accidents
are the result of systemic
failures, the " root cause " will almost
never be found to have been operator
error or mechanical failure. CSB has
http://www.csb.gov http://WWW.CHE.COM
Chemical Engineering July 2012

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