U S Environmental Protection Agency

U.s. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board Needs to Complete More Timely Investigations U S Environmental Protection Agency

Publisher Marketing: CSB does not have an effective management system to meet its established performance goal to "[c]onduct incident investigations and safety studies concerning releases of hazardous chemical substances." CSB has not fully accomplished its related strategic objective to "[c]omplete timely, high quality investigations that examine the technical, management systems, organizational, and regulatory causes of chemical incidents." We identified five reasons why CSB did not meet its objective to timely complete investigations: A lack of defined performance indicators in CSB's annual performance plan, which are necessary to assess the efficiency of its investigations process. A backlog of open investigations without documented plans for resolution. An average investigative staff turnover rate of 15 percent. Non-collocation of files and incorrectly classified or coded investigation files. A need for updated policies over current investigative procedures and a policy that defines final investigative products. By completing investigations more timely, CSB can better fulfill its mission and improve its ability to ensure that it provides the community and other stakeholders with findings and recommendations to help reduce the occurrence of similar incidents, which would protect human health and the environment.