CSB Cuts Investigation Backlog by Two-Thirds

The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released 12 final investigation reports since July 2022, which is two-thirds of the agency’s backlog during the last 12 months.  

“When I became the Interim Executive in late July 2022, the CSB had an enormous backlog of 17 open investigations, some dating as far back as 2016. Reducing the backlog so significantly as we have done so quickly has taken an extraordinary effort by every employee at the CSB, working together as a team. The CSB has never before issued so many reports in such a short period of time," said CSB Chairperson Steve Owens.  

Owens became the CSB interim executive when the former CSB chairperson resigned last year.  He was nominated at that time by President Biden to be the new chairperson and confirmed by the US Senate in December 2022.

The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is on track to close and issue final reports for the remaining five open investigations by the end of this calendar year as well, completely eliminate the long-standing backlog. 

The completed final investigations include:

“I look forward to our continued productivity. As a team, we have worked extraordinarily hard to meet our deadlines and I know that we will continue to issue reports, safety videos and onboard new staff as we close out this year," said CSB Board Member Sylvia Johnson.