The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) recently cited several process design flaws it said led to a toxic release at DuPont’s La Porte, Texas, plant that killed four workers and injured one. The incident occurred Nov. 17 when the four workers were exposed to 23,000 pounds of methyl mercaptan that leaked into an operations building they were in.
CSB discovered several interconnections between a methyl mercaptan supply line and a chemical vent system, which the board said caused the liquid to leak into an unexpected location. CSB said the chemical vent system had a design flaw that allowed liquid to accumulate inside and the vent drain was open to the atmosphere. Finally, CSB said the building was designed such that the workers would not have been protected from chemical exposure even if its ventilation fans had been working on the day of the accident.
CSB Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso said the board has found several other common factors leading to similar industry incidents over the years, including a lack of safe process designs and risk reduction targets, weak or obsolete regulations, inadequate regulatory resources and staffing and overly permissive industry standards.
In his remarks, Moure-Eraso said DuPont has long been regarded as one of the industry’s safety leaders, but he acknowledged two other recent safety incidents at the company’s facilities in West Virginia and New York. One worker was killed in the West Virginia accident.
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