Chemical Safety Board eyes ‘tomorrow’s successes’ after a ‘good year’

Washington — The Chemical Safety Board reached a milestone of 1,000 safety recommendations and distanced itself from a long-standing investigative backlog, among other accomplishments, in fiscal year 2024.

As agency officials spoke during an Oct. 24 public business meeting, CSB’s first of FY 2025, Director of Recommendations Chuck Barbee reinforced the board’s optimism about advancing its mission.

If anyone would “ask me if fiscal year 2024 was a good year for driving chemical safety excellence,” he said, “I would think I would have to say you’re darned right it was.”

Barbee credited the “tenacity and professionalism” of the recommendations team, which closed six investigations and produced 67 safety recommendations aimed at protecting workers and communities.

“Many of the recipients not only implemented the recommendations, but in a couple of cases went above and beyond what we had recommended to be done,” CSB Chair Steve Owens said.

Although two seats remain open on CSB’s five-member board, recent additions to other areas of the agency have helped the board improve its response time to and management of incidents, CSB member Sylvia Johnson noted.

“The staffing levels enable us to respond swiftly and effectively,” Johnson said. “With the internal processing improvements, we put the structures into place to turn the challenges into tomorrow’s successes. We’re confident we’re on track to prevent the future backlogs.”