For more information, go to: Chairman Merritt's Written Testimony

Washington, DC, March 25, 2004 - Carolyn Merritt, Chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) today told a Congressional committee that the safety information accompanying chemical products delivered to industrial plants frequently is deficient, leading to avoidable deaths and injuries. She made her remarks in written testimony delivered to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Senate Subcommittee on Employment, Safety and Training, which is holding hearings on the safety information, called Material Safety Data Sheets, or MSDSs.

Ms. Merritt said, "Deficiencies in hazard communication and Material Safety Data Sheets are among the common causes of major chemical accidents that result in loss of life, serious injures, and damage to property and the environment."

Chairman Merritt cited data and root cause findings from the 19 investigations CSB has conducted since becoming operational in 1998. Deficiencies in communicating hazards on the data sheets were cited in ten of the 19 reports. The deficiencies were found to be an actual root cause, contributing cause, or major causal factor in nine of the ten.

"These nine accidents were responsible for the deaths of 12 workers and injuries to 79 other workers, emergency responders, and members of the public. These totals will likely increase as additional investigations are completed," she said.

The Material Safety Data Sheets are required in the Hazard Communication Standard promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) creates voluntary standards on preparing precautionary labels and developing the language for MSDSs.

The Chairman in particular cited the inadequacy of information in data sheets concerning combustible dust dangers that occur in certain chemical processes. Noting the CSB has investigated three major dust explosion accidents over the past year, Ms. Merritt said "The CSB is concerned that neither the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard nor the ANSI standard contains a definition for combustible dust. Employers need this information to accurately assess the hazards of dust in the workplace."

The Chairman concluded her testimony saying, "The CSB believes that improving the quality of hazard communication and Material Safety Data Sheets will help prevent major chemical accidents and should be an important goal of government agencies as well as the producers and users of hazardous materials."

In written comments to ANSI on the upcoming revision to the consensus standard on preparing MSDSs, the CSB staff on August 22, 2003, recommended that ANSI incorporate a definition for combustible dust. However, on November 19, 2003, ANSI declined to do so, stating that OSHA had not yet incorporated the concept of combustible dusts into the Hazard Communication Standard.

Among the ten specific investigations cited in her testimony were these examples: MSDSs not provided to disposal site operators for flammable wastes that exploded in Texas; an explosion in New York City involving incompatible chemicals for which workers were provided no MSDSs; an explosion of a spent sulfuric acid tank in Delaware despite an MSDS that said of the spent sulfuric acid: "the product is not combustible."

The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. The agency's board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. CSB investigations look into all aspects of such events, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in safety management systems. Typically, the investigations involve extensive witness interviews, examination of physical evidence, and chemical and forensic testing. The Board does not issue citations or fines but does make safety recommendations to plants, industry organizations, labor groups, and regulatory agencies such as OSHA and EPA. The Board designates formal responses to its recommendations as acceptable or unacceptable, open or closed. Further information about the CSB is available from www.csb.gov.

For more information, contact Daniel Horowitz, 202-261-7613 / 202-441-6074 (cell) or Sandy Gilmour Communications, 202-261-7614 / 202-251-5496 (cell).