Two contractors were performing welding atop a 10,000 gallon slurry tank when hot sparks ignited flammable vapors inside the tank, causing an explosion that killed one contractor and seriously in... Learn More

Three combustible dust incidents over a six month period occurred at the Hoeganaes facility in Gallatin, TN, resulting in fatal injuries to five workers. The facility produces powdered iron and i... Learn More

On April 13, 2010, the CSB released a safety video, entitled “No Place to Hang Out”. The video tells the story of the tragic deaths of 18-year-old Wade White and 16-year-old Devon Byrd, killed on... Learn More

An explosion severely injured a graduate student at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, in the chemistry department during the handling of a high-energy metal compound, which suddenly detona... Learn More

On January 23, there was a release of highly toxic phosgene, exposing a veteran operator at the DuPont facility in Belle, West Virginia and resulting in his death one day later. DuPont offic... Learn More

On June 11, 2008, one worker was killed and approximately seven others were injured, during a maintenance operation on a heat exchanger. Ammonia overpressured inside the exchanger, causing it to ... Learn More

Two workers were fatally injured when a waste tank containing the pesticide methomyl violently exploded, damaging a process unit at the Bayer CropScience chemical plant in Institute, West Virgini... Learn More

On October 2, 2007, five people were killed and three others injured when a fire erupted 1,000 feet underground in a tunnel at Xcel Energy Company's hydroelectric power plant in Georgetown, Color... Learn More

On May 4, 2009, flammable vapors were suddenly released into the atmosphere. The vapors found an ignition source, leading to an explosion and fire that seriously injured two workers and damaged ... Learn More

Six workers were fatally injured during a planned work activity to clean debris from natural gas pipes at Kleen Energy in Middletown, CT. To remove the debris, workers used natural gas at a high ... Learn More

A safety bulletin warning of the hazards of conducting hot work in a variety of industries and identifying seven key lessons aimed at preventing worker deaths during hot work in and around storag... Learn More

On the afternoon of June 9, 2009, 4 workers were fatally injured and dozens of others were injured when an explosion occurred at the ConAgra Foods facility in Garner, North Carolina. ... Learn More

On October 11, 2008, a transfer operation overflowed an oleum process tank, filling a vent system and releasing the oleum into a storage building at Indspec Chemical Corporation in Petrolia, Penn... Learn More

On February 7, 2008, a huge explosion and fire occurred at the Imperial Sugar refinery northwest of Savannah, Georgia, causing 14 deaths and injuring 38 others, including 14 with serious and life... Learn More

On December 19, 2007, four people were killed and 13 others were transported to the hospital when an explosion occured at T2 Laboratories Inc. during the production of a gasoline additive called ... Learn More

On November 12, 2008 a two-million-gallon liquid fertilizer storage tank collapsed at the Allied Terminal distribution facility in Chesapeake, VA. The incident critically injured two contract wor... Learn More

Four people were killed and five others were seriously injured when propane vapors from a storage tank ignited and exploded at the Little General convenience store and gas station in Ghent, West ... Learn More

On October 29, 2007, a fire and series of explosions occurred at the Barton Solvents chemical distribution facility in Des Moines, Iowa, . The initial fire started in the packaging area while a 3... Learn More

On February 16, 2007, a propane fire erupted at the Valero McKee Refinery in Sunray, Texas, north of Amarillo. Three workers suffered serious burns, and the refinery was forced to shut down. The ... Learn More

On July 17, 2007, explosions and fire erupted at the Barton Solvents facility in Valley Center, Kansas, north of Wichita. The incident led to the evacuation of thousands of residents and resulted... Learn More

During the early morning hours of November 22, a powerful explosion destroyed the CAI/Arnel ink and paint manufacturing facility in Danvers, Massachusetts. Scores of nearby homes and businesses w... Learn More

Explosions and fire at a hazardous waste facility forced the evacuation of approximately 16,000 residents from Apex, North Carolina, on October 5, 2006. The incident likely began in the oxidizer ... Learn More

One worker was fatally burned and about a dozen others were injured when a powerful explosion devastated the Synthron Inc. chemical manufacturing facility. CSB investigators believe the explosion... Learn More

This bulletin compares two chlorine releases investigated by the CSB. In both, a railcar unloading hose failed and chlorine was released. In the first incident, an emergency shutdown system malf... Learn More

Three contractors died and one contractor suffered serious injuries in an explosion and fire at the Partridge-Raleigh Oilfield. The contractors, all employees of Stringer Oilfield Services, were ... Learn More

One fatality and five injuries resulted from an explosion and fire in a mixing room at the Universal Form Clamp facility. Workers were heating and mixing flammable solvents in an open top tank. D... Learn More

At approximately 1:20 p.m. on March 23, 2005, a series of explosions occurred at the BP Texas City refinery during the restarting of a hydrocarbon isomerization unit. Fifteen workers were killed ... Learn More

Two municipal workers died and another was seriously injured while attempting to remove a steel canopy above a methanol storage tank at the Bethune Point wastewater plant operated by the City of ... Learn More

On April 23, 2004, five workers were fatally injured and two others were seriously injured when an explosion occurred in a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) production unit at Formosa Plastics in Illiopol... Learn More

On November 17, 2003, there was a release of chlorine gas from the DPC Enterprises chlorine repackaging facility in Glendale, Arizona, near Phoenix. Fourteen people, including ten police officers... Learn More

In 2003, the CSB launched investigations of three major industrial explosions involving combustible powders. These explosions - in North Carolina, Kentucky, and Indiana - cost 14 lives and caused... Learn More

Two contract employees were overcome and fatally injured by nitrogen as they performed maintenance work near a 24-inch opening on the top of a reactor. One of the workers died attempting rescue. ... Learn More

On July 28, 2005, 4 months after a devastating incident in the Isomerization (Isom) Unit that killed 15 workers and injured 180, the BP Texas City refinery experienced a major fire in the Resi... Learn More

A forklift towing a trailer collided with a line containing highly flammable liquid propylene, causing a release and a vapor cloud explosion. Sixteen workers were injured, the process unit was he... Learn More

On June 24, 2005, fire swept through thousands of flammable gas cylinders at the Praxair gas repackaging plant in St. Louis, Missouri. Dozens of exploding cylinders were launched into the surroun... Learn More

On the evening of December 3, a storage tank failed catastrophically at the Marcus Oil and Chemical polyethylene wax facility in Houston. The blast, which was felt up to 20 miles from the plant s... Learn More

On the evening of April 12, 2004, a chemical reactor overheated at the MFG Chemical manufacturing plant, releasing toxic allyl alcohol vapor. The resulting cloud sent 154 people to a local hospit... Learn More

At approximately 3:00 p.m. on August 19, 2004, an explosion occurred inside an ethylene oxide sterilization chamber and an associated thermal oxidizer at the Sterigenics facility in Ontario, Cali... Learn More

On January 25, 2005, a gas explosion killed three workers at the Acetylene Service Company plant in Perth Amboy, NJ. The blast originated in a wooden shed located near six large storage tanks tha... Learn More

On April 8, 2004, four workers were seriously injured when highly flammable gasoline components were released and ignited at the Giant Industries Ciniza refinery, east of Gallup, New Mexico. The ... Learn More

On the evening of October 29, 2003, a series of explosions severely burned two workers, injured a third, and caused property damage to the Hayes Lemmerz manufacturing plant in Huntington, Indiana... Learn More

On July 20, 2003, there was a release of chlorine gas from the Honeywell refrigerant manufacturing plant in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The accident resulted in the hospitalization of four plant work... Learn More

On February 20, 2003, an explosion and fire damaged the CTA Acoustics manufacturing plant in Corbin, Kentucky, fatally injuring seven workers. The facility produced fiberglass insulation for the ... Learn More

On January 29, 2003, an explosion and fire destroyed the West Pharmaceutical Services plant in Kinston, North Carolina, causing six deaths, dozens of injuries, and hundreds of job losses. The fac... Learn More

On September 21, 2003, a violent explosion destroyed an underground distillation tower at the Isotec chemical manufacturing plant in Miami Township, Ohio, injuring one worker. The explosion ruptu... Learn More

On February 7, 2003, a worker was seriously injured in an explosion at Technic Inc. in Cranston, Rhode Island. The explosion occurred during maintenance on a ventilation system connected to multi... Learn More

This Safety Bulletin is published to increase awareness of the hazards associated with NaHS and to outline safety practices to minimize the potential for harm to workers and the public.... Learn More

This Safety Bulletin identifies specific tasks that facilities should include in all work activities involving piping or equipment opening to ensure the complete removal of hazardous material. ... Learn More

On the morning of April 11, 2003, one worker was killed at the D.D. Williamson food additive plant in Louisville, Kentucky, when a process vessel became overpressurized and failed catastrophicall... Learn More

On January 2, 2003, a vacuum dryer holding nearly 200 pounds of benzoyl peroxide exploded at the Catalyst Systems Inc. production facility in Gnadenhutten, Ohio. Employees were in the process of ... Learn More

On October 13, 2002, a violent explosion occurred in a chemical distillation tower at First Chemical Corporation in Pascagoula, Mississippi, sending heavy debris over a wide area. Three workers i... Learn More

On April 25, 2002, an explosion occurred at Kaltech Industries, a sign manufacturer in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City, injuring 36 people seriously enough to seek hospital treatment, i... Learn More

On December 11, 2002, one maintenance employee was overcome when he inhaled hydrogen sulfide gas from a waste processing vessel at Environmental Enterprises, a hazardous waste treatment company i... Learn More

On January 13, 2003, a vapor cloud fire erupted at the BLSR Operating Ltd. oilfield waste disposal facility near Rosharon, Texas, south of Houston. The fire occurred as two vacuum trucks were del... Learn More

Every year people are killed by breathing “air” that contains too little oxygen. Because 78 percent of the air we breathe is nitrogen gas, many people assume that nitrogen is not harmful. Howev... Learn More

On August 14, 2002, a chlorine transfer hose ruptured during a rail car unloading operation at the DPC Enterprises chlorine repackaging facility near Festus, Missouri. The hose rupture ultimately... Learn More

On May 1, 2002, a fire erupted at Third Coast Industries in unincorporated Brazoria County, Texas. The facility, which blended and packaged motor oils and other automotive products, was not desig... Learn More

On January 16, 2002, highly toxic hydrogen sulfide gas leaked from a sewer manway at the Georgia-Pacific Naheola mill in Pennington, Alabama. Several people working near the manway were exposed t... Learn More

In August 2000, following its investigation of a serious reactive incident at Morton International, the Board initiated a comprehensive review of reactive hazards nationwide. The purpose of the ... Learn More

On July 17, 2001, an explosion occurred at the Motiva Enterprises refinery in Delaware City, Delaware. A work crew had been repairing a catwalk above a sulfuric acid storage tank farm when a spar... Learn More

On March 13, 2001, three people were killed as they opened a process vessel containing hot plastic at the BP Amoco Polymers plant in Augusta, Georgia. They were unaware that the vessel was press... Learn More

On February 19, 1999, a process vessel containing several hundred pounds of hydroxylamine exploded at the Concept Sciences Inc. production facility near Allentown, Pennsylvania. Employees were di... Learn More

On February 2, 2001, a fire occurred at Bethlehem Steel Corporation's Burns Harbor mill in Chesterton, Indiana. One Bethlehem Steel millwright and one contractor supervisor died. Four Bethlehem S... Learn More

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) issues this Safety Bulletin to focus attention on the need for systematically managing the safety effects of process changes in the c... Learn More

On February 23, 1999, a fire occurred in the crude unit at Tosco Corporation. Avon oil refinery in Martinez, California. Workers were attempting to replace piping attached to a 150-foot-tall frac... Learn More

At approximately 6:15 p.m. on March 4, 1998, a catastrophic vessel failure and fire occurred near Pitkin, Louisiana, at the Temple 22-1 Common Point Separation Facility owned by Sonat Exploration... Learn More

On April 8, 1998, an explosion and fire occurred during the production of Automate Yellow 96 Dye at the Morton International Inc. plant in Paterson, New Jersey. The explosion and fire were the co... Learn More

On April 9, 1998, an 18,000-gallon propane tank exploded at the Herrig Brothers farm in Albert City, Iowa. The explosion killed two volunteer firefighters and injured seven other emergency respon... Learn More

On March 27, 1998, one worker was killed and another seriously injured when they were asphyxiated by nitrogen at Union Carbide Corporation's Taft/Star Manufacturing Plant in Hahnville, Louisiana.... Learn More

On January 7, 1998, two explosions in rapid succession destroyed the Sierra Chemical Company Kean Canyon plant near Mustang, Nevada, killing four workers and injuring six others. ... Learn More

The startup of major processes is a hazardous phase in the operation of oil refineries and chemical plants. Hurricane Katrina has now disrupted production at numerous petrochemical facilities in... Learn More