CSB

The United States Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) is an "independent non-regulatory federal agency that investigates major chemical incidents".  The CSB is located in Washington D.C. and is composed of board members appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The Clean Air Act states that the Board members be appointed on the "basis of technical qualification, professional standing, and demonstrated knowledge in the fields of accident reconstruction, safety engineering, human factors, toxicology, or air pollution regulations". Thank god for that law! While the individual board members may or may not investigate various accidents, all of the board members must review report findings and approve safety recommendations. The current CSB members were all Barack Obama appointees, so we can thankfully be reassured that these members are less likely to be as pro-industry than the people that Trump would likely appoint. 

The CSB states that their mission is to "drive chemical safety change through independent investigation to protect people and the environment." The CSB's vision is "a nation safe from chemical disasters."
The bulk of the CSB's work is in the investigation of industrial chemical disasters at industrial sites like the Louisiana plant explosion that occurred in January of this year. After their investigations, the CSB makes recommendations to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  The intention of keeping CSB nonregulatory is to encourage findings and recommendations that are independent of political bias. Investigators include chemical and mechanical engineers, industry safety specialists, and individuals with chemical industrial expertise. 
The work of the CSB in public health is to do reduce the impact of chemical disasters before and after they have occurred.

Louisiana Chemical Plant Fire, Jan. 2018

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