In its 20-year history, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) has investigated hundreds of major chemical incidents ranging from toxic chemical releases, to fires and explosions at oil refineries, food processing facilities, and academic institutions. While the CSB's investigation reports and videos make these lessons public, we only do so for a small fraction of the chemical incidents that occur each year. In many of these cases, people in the affected facility were unaware of similar incidents that had occurred in the past at other facilities. When a major incident occurs, especially one marked by loss of life or severe injury, other companies often take notice, and some will engage in a review of their own procedures to assess their vulnerability to a similar incident. This review can be facilitated when the affected facility shares what it knows about the underlying causes of the incident. Too often, the affected facility is concerned about perceived downsides of such transparency, including reputational loss and exposure to liability, and is reluctant to share lessons learned. When learnings are not shared, opportunities for safety improvements beyond the affected facility are lost. This is as true in academia as it is in industry. In addition to sharing lessons from major incidents, there is tremendous value in sharing information about near-miss incidents, yet these data are even harder to collect and share. This presentation will provide examples of efforts to share lessons from incidents and near-misses to enhance chemical safety.

Safety for one, safety for all: Overcoming challenges to sharing chemical incident data

2019 Fall National Meeting

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