Chemical Safety Board video shares lessons from fatal explosion

Washington — Chemical facilities should “develop and implement effective process safety management systems and emergency response plans,” Chemical Safety Board Chair Steve Owens says in a new video.

The video analyzes the events that led to a deadly chemical release and explosion in January 2020 at the Watson Grinding facility in Houston. Two workers and a nearby resident died when an accidental release of the flammable gas propylene accumulated inside the building and exploded.

An agency final report on the incident states that the release was set off by a degraded rubber welding hose that disconnected from its fitting inside a coating booth. CSB determined that workers failed to close the manual shutoff valve at the propylene tank the previous workday. In addition, the facility’s automated gas detection alarm, exhaust fan startup and gas shut-off system were inoperable.

In the video, CSB investigator Benjamin Schrader calls on employers to ensure the safety of workers who use flammable gases or hazardous materials, as well as protect adjacent communities and the environment. This applies no matter if the chemical(s) meets the threshold quantity under OSHA’s standard on process safety management systems at facilities that store and use flammable gases (1910.119) or the Environmental Protection Agency’s Risk Management Program rule.

“Companies have a duty to ensure the safety of workers at their facilities and protect surrounding communities and the environment regardless of whether they’re required by regulation to apply a process safety management system,” Schrader says. “This tragic incident could have been prevented if Watson Grinding had developed such a system for its coating process.”

Schrader recommends that employers train and conduct periodic drills on a facility emergency response plan, which should address all actions to be taken in the event of a chemical release.