Demystify: 

Hi Rob -

It would seem to me that as far as academic laboratory safety, one of the best outcomes from a CSB investigation for would be the development of the guidance document, Identifying and Evaluating Hazards in Research Laboratories, and the document's companion website. It would be great to know how much traffic the website gets or how many universities use the document in various capacities. I now teach risk assessment to all of our majors using the document.

As others have stated, I to use CSB reports as teaching tools. My go to video is "Reactive Hazards" which gives the history of the agency, discusses the Bhopal incident, and then three industrial incidents which resulted from loss of control from chemical reactivity.

I use several of the reports on my second exam in my Chemical Safety Course where I am teaching causation. A portion of a case report is given and the students must identify active and latent cause, etc.. Of course the pre-service High School teachers watch the "After the Rainbow" video.

Sorry, no hard data " but the CSB reports provide invaluable educational resources,
Sammye

I am interesting in hearing how anyone on the list has SPECIFICALLY implemented a new process/regime, averted a hazard, or otherwise benefitted from the work of the Chemical Safety Board (CSB). And If you have any metric which quantifies how this saved time, injuries, lives or money that"s an added bonus.

As presumably everyone on the list has heard, the CSB is slated for elimination under the Trump administration's proposed budget framework. The CSB is a non-regulatory agency with a very modest budget ($11 million or so) with no enforcement power, and serves as an honest broker in investigating root causes of major or unusual accidents. These investigations provide data that not prevents injuries, deaths, and property loss. Which means that it saves industry money. A lot of money when you factor in potential liability and insurance costs.

I believe that those behind the proposed cut do not grasp these aspects of the CSB and why it is worth keeping. It will take powerful results/outcomes to change their minds. This means we also need an emphasis on industry outcomes, alas, because we are battling the "overregulation" mindset, but reports from academia are, of course, very welcome.

Please reply to the list. If you have something to share but don"t want to attach your name to it, send it to me personally and I can anonymize it for sharing.

Thanks for your help

Rob Toreki

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