March 6, 2006—The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board screened 645 US chemical incidents during the twelve-month period from July 1, 2004, to June 30, 2005, according to a recent report to Congress.
The report explains the difference between the number of chemical incidents that fall within the agencys jurisdiction and the number it actually investigates.
The majority of the 645 incidents were “relatively inconsequential,” the board noted. However, some serious incidents did occur that the board was not able to investigate due to limited resources. “This demonstrates that additional investigative work for the agency does exist,” said Carolyn Merritt, the boards chairman.
During the period covered by the report, the agency deployed investigators to incident scenes only seven times, resulting in five significant investigations.
For the full report, visit the Web site.
