Recent Recommendation Status Updates

Each recommendation the CSB issues is monitored by CSB staff from the time it is issued to closing. CSB staff evaluate recipient responses, and the Board votes to assign status designations to recommendations based on staff evaluation. This page highlights recommendations for which the Board has recently voted to change the status of the recommendation. For more information on how the CSB defines its recommendation statuses, please visit the Recommendations Frequently Asked Questions page.

 

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Recommendations

BP America Refinery Explosion (1 Recommendations)
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (1 Recommendations)
Open: 0% | Closed: 100%
View Investigation
Final Report Released On: March 20, 2007

2005-4-I-TX-8

1. Strengthen the planned comprehensive enforcement of the OSHA Process Safety Management (PSM) standard. At a minimum: a. Identify those facilities at greatest risk of a catastrophic accident by using available indicators of process safety performance and information gathered by the EPA under its Risk Management Program (RMP). b. Conduct, or have conducted, comprehensive inspections, such as those under your Program Quality Verification (PQV) program at facilities identified as presenting the greatest risk. c. Establish the capacity to conduct more comprehensive PSM inspections by hiring or developing a sufficient cadre of highly trained and experienced inspectors. d. Expand the PSM training offered to inspectors at the OSHA National Training Institute.


Status: Closed - Acceptable Alternative Action
Closed - Acceptable Alternative Action (C - AAA)
 

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Bethune Point Wastewater Plant Explosion (1 Recommendations)
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (1 Recommendations)
Open: 0% | Closed: 100%
View Investigation
Final Report Released On: March 13, 2007

2006-3-I-FL-6

Revise 29 CFR 1910.106 to specifically exclude the use of thermoplastics in above ground flammable liquid service.


Status: Closed - Reconsidered/Superseded
Closed - Reconsidered/Superseded (C - R/S) - Recipient rejects the recommendation and also supports the rejection with a rationale with which the Board concurs. This designation may apply when later facts indicate that the concerns expressed in the recommendation were actually addressed prior to the incident, or when a recommendation is superseded by a new, more appropriate recommendation.
 

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Enterprise Pascagoula Gas Plant Explosion and Fire (3 Recommendations)
GPA Midstream Association (3 Recommendations)
Open: 100% | Closed: 0%
View Investigation
Final Report Released On: February 13, 2019

2016-02-I-MS-2

Revise GPA Technical Bulletin: Brazed Aluminum Heat Exchangers, or develop a new bulletin, to incorporate the significant lessons learned from this incident, including but not limited to:

a. information on the potential of both minor leaks and catastrophic failure as a result of thermal fatigue;

b. clarification on the optimal placement of BAHX temperature and pressure sensors to better monitor operating conditions, including temperature rates of change; and

c. clarification on the need to safely vent layers that have been blocked off after interpass leak repairs, in all BAHX configurations.


Status: Open - Acceptable Response or Alternate Response
Open - Acceptable Response or Alternate Response (O - ARAR) - Response from recipient indicates a planned action that would satisfy the objective of the recommendation when implemented.
 

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2016-02-I-MS-3

Develop a database for operators to submit BAHX operational data for collaborative industry learning and analysis. Encourage your members to submit pressure and temperature data associated with the entire service life of brazed aluminum heat exchangers as well as the date(s) of leak(s) or failure(s) for each exchanger on which data is being submitted. At a minimum this system should:

a. provide a way to anonymously input data into the database;

b. specify the time interval between measurements such that data can be normalized across different exchangers; and

c. capture the type of service in which the exchanger was operating.


Status: Open - Unacceptable Response/No Response Received
Open - Unacceptable Response/No Response Received (O - UR) - Recipient responds by expressing disagreement with the need outlined in the recommendation. The Board believes, however, that there is enough supporting evidence to ask the recipient to reconsider.
 

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2016-02-I-MS-4

Using available operational process data of BAHXs in midstream gas plant operation collected in fulfillment of 2016-02-I-MS-R3, continue data analysis efforts to determine what, if any, correlation exists between operational process data and the frequency or timing of thermal fatigue-generated cracking to more accurately predict the service life of a BAHX.

Should predictors be identified, develop and offer to your members industry tools, techniques, or criteria for estimating when thermal fatigue warrants preemptive replacement of a BAHX (e.g., risk assessment tools or damage rate calculations).


Status: Open - Unacceptable Response/No Response Received
Open - Unacceptable Response/No Response Received (O - UR) - Recipient responds by expressing disagreement with the need outlined in the recommendation. The Board believes, however, that there is enough supporting evidence to ask the recipient to reconsider.
 

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AirGas Facility Fatal Explosion (1 Recommendations)
Air Liquide (1 Recommendations)
Open: 0% | Closed: 100%
View Investigation
Final Report Released On: April 20, 2017

2016-04-I-FL-1

The goal of 2016-04-I-FL-R1 is to prevent all nitrous oxide explosions at its facilities, while preventing harm to workers and the public.

Following the August 28, 2016, incident, the company began a comprehensive initiative to review its nitrous oxide production facilities, trucking fleet, and cylinder-filling operations.  The scope of the ongoing Air Liquide initiative is shown in Table 1. 

Complete the development and implementation of the company’s nitrous oxide business process safety initiative as shown in Table 1, consistent with the findings, conclusions, and recommendations contained in this report. 


Status: Closed - Exceeds Recommended Action
Closed - Exceeds Recommended Action (C - ERA) - Action on the recommendation meets and surpasses the objectives envisioned by the Board.
 

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