CSB Video Urges Use Of Safer Design

In a safety video released last week, the Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) urges chemical companies to examine—and apply when possible—inherently safer design principles when making production decisions. The video identifies and underscores four principles of inherently safer design that CSB says companies should use. They are: replacing a hazardous chemical with a less hazardous one, minimizing use of hazardous materials, moderating a manufacturing process to reduce the likelihood and impact of an accident, and simplifying a manufacturing process so it is less prone to failure. The video and CSB recommendations sprang from a recent National Academy of Sciences investigation and report that considered how the chemical industry could promote safety by improving process design techniques. That investigation examined a 2008 accident at the Bayer CropScience plant near Charleston, W.Va., which killed two workers and almost caused the release of 13,000 lb of methyl isocyanate stored at the plant (C&EN, May 21, page 5).