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CSB’s Business Case for Chemical Safety
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) released a document in May that summarizes findings from its investigations of four chemical-related accidents: the BP Texas City refinery explosion in March 2005, the Deepwater Horizon/Macondo well blowout in April 2010, the explosion at Chevron’s Richmond, Calif., refinery in August 2012, and the explosion at West Fertilizer Company’s facility in West, Texas, in April 2013. Titled “Business Case for Safety,” the document presents information on the costs of these accidents, including insurance-related losses, fines and restitutions, court settlements, economic and medical claims, and other costs. Information from the document appears below.
From “Business Case for Safety”:
“There’s an old saying that if you think safety is expensive, try an accident.”
Quote attributed to process safety expert Trevor Kletz.

SOURCE

CSB: “Business Case for Safety” (
PDF
, April 2017).

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