Chemical safety: Asking the right questions

CSB and DOE chemical incident reports are analyzed. Chemical accidents continue to occur at an unacceptable rate. No clustering of chemical classes was observed. Only 30% of chemical incidents investigated involved PSM regulated chemicals. 75% of DOE incidents involved chemicals with no or a low instability rating. This article reviews the results of previous analyses of chemical accident causes and shows evidence that the true root cause for many chemical accidents is the lack of a dedicated safety professional that has sufficient knowledge to properly identify and mitigate chemical hazards. People with a sufficient educational background and experience to recognize near misses and precursors to a chemical event are rare. Suggestions for educational qualifications and experience background for a chemical safety professional are summarized.