An ongoing investigation by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) of the February 18, 2015, explosion at the ExxonMobil Refinery in Torrance, California, has uncovered multiple process safety management deficiencies that led to the accident and a serious near miss.

A 45-year-old pipefitter who was wearing four layers of clothing – including a chemical suit - while he worked died on the job in March at a petroleum refinery in Norco, Lousiana.

The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released a safety message yesterday to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the accident at the BP refinery in Texas City, Texas, that killed 15 workers and injured 180 others. In the message Chairperson Rafael Moure-Eraso emphasizes the need for continued safety improvements across industry in order to prevent similar accidents from occurring.

Last week’s explosion and fire at the ExxonMobile refinery in Southern California underscores the need for improved safety conditions to protect both workers and communities, according to the United Steelworkers (USW).

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board has identified the modernization of U.S. Process Safety Management (PSM) regulations as its newest Most Wanted Safety Improvement, concluding that implementation of key federal and state CSB safety recommendations will result in significant improvement of Process Safety Management (PSM) regulations in the United States.