Washington, D.C., June 7, 2023, – The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) has received Two Silver Telly Awards for its industrial safety video program. The first award is for the agency’s video about a fatal fire at the Evergreen paper mill in Canton, NC in 2020 that resulted in the death of two workers. The second award is for the agency’s video about a massive fire and explosion that occurred in 2019 at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in Philadelphia, PA, in which over 5,000 pounds of highly toxic hydrofluoric acid were released, a massive vessel fragment weighing 38,000 pounds was propelled across the Schuylkill River, and an estimated $750 million in property damage occurred.
The Telly Awards was founded in 1979 and honors excellence in video and television across all screens. Both of the CSB videos that received awards can be found on the CSB’s YouTube channel, which presently has nearly 280,000 subscribers. Since their release, both in 2022, the videos have received over 2.5 million views together.
CSB Chairperson Steve Owens said, “The CSB’s video program is a very important – and very effective – tool for disseminating critical lessons learned from our chemical accident investigations. We appreciate the recognition of our videos by the Telly Awards and hope that the awards will encourage even more people to view them and take steps to prevent other chemical disasters from occurring in the future.”
The CSB’s investigations into both incidents are available at csb.gov. Learn more about the CSB’s investigations HERE.
The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating incidents and hazards that result, or may result, in the catastrophic release of extremely hazardous substances. The agency’s core mission activities include conducting incident investigations; formulating preventive or mitigative recommendations based on investigation findings and advocating for their implementation; issuing reports containing the findings, conclusions, and recommendations arising from incident investigations; and conducting studies on chemical hazards.
The agency's board members are appointed by the president subject to Senate confirmation. The Board does not issue citations or fines but makes safety recommendations to companies, industry organizations, labor groups, and regulatory agencies such as OSHA and EPA.
Please visit our website, www.csb.gov. For more information, contact Communications Manager Hillary Cohen at [email protected].