An important regulatory board, the independent U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, is being threatened with defunding – a move that potentially spells disaster for oil & gas refinery workers across Houston, the Gulf, and the United States.
This move follows a trend of deregulation across the country; and as companies are provided more leeway to operate in substandard conditions, employees find themselves injured at a rapidly increasing rate. Our firm in particular has noticed a relatively recent uptick in calls regarding industrial accidents and workplace injuries in the oil and manufacturing industries.
Longer Cases, Less Settlements
The potential loss of the CSB – and other boards like it – could be devastating to personal injury cases, where the presence of a recognized, independent third party is invaluable to those pursuing compensation for their injuries. The reports generated by oversight boards give the courts an easy-to-understand, reputable narrative. Without these reports, injury attorneys will be required to utilize 3rd party investigations – hiring private investigators, conducting private interviews, requesting additional supporting documents that would otherwise be provided to regulatory bodies.
This may have a variety of effects:
- Cases are harder to settle – Because there is less trust for private investigators, companies like PEMEX, Shell, and the rest are more likely to force the issue to court.
- Longer suits – Lawsuits already take a long time. Additional research time and the prospect of less settlements means that our clients will have to wait months or even years longer before they’re able to move forward.
- Less money – While we like to deemphasize our and our clients’ focus on the financial outcome of cases, the truth is that it will be harder than ever to secure the right settlement for our clients, especially since some of that money will be eaten up by the added costs of hiring investigators, completed reports, finding and hiring additional expert witnesses and so on.
Background
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board is an independent investigative and regulatory body. The CSB is in charge of investigating industrial chemical accidents and developing recommendations to ensure they do not happen again. In recent years, the CSB investigated Didion Milling, whose Wisconsin Facility explosion killed five employees and injured 14 more. Didion was fined $1.8 million in civil penalties, as well as criminal penalties. The CSB has also investigated the 2023 Pemex Refinery explosion in Deer Park, Texas (this accident followed by the 2024 accident that resulted in several deaths). According to the CSB, that accident, which resulted in the release of 1,000 pounds of flammable hydrocarbons, was the result of employee mistrust of alarms (“alarm normalization”), improper unit startup conditions and incorrectly programmed alarms.
A Rising Problem
Recently, the CSB released three volumes of incident reports. These reports, covering 5 years (2020-2025), show over a 100% increase in accidents from 2020-2023 (13 and 33 respectively). Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3 can be read online and provide additional information as to the cause of each accident.
Note: 2024 and 2025 have very few accidents in this report – this is likely due to one of two factors: the CSB incident reports track completed investigations, and many of the incidents in 2024 and 2025 are still being investigated. Additionally, the CSB has narrowed its definition of an “incident” relatively recently.
This problem is in part a recurring one. The CSB had the following to say in its 2024 study on the Remote Isolation of Process Equipment.
“Many companies in the chemical industry have not fully recognized that the effective remote isolation of equipment is critical to quickly stopping releases of hazardous materials and can reduce not only worker injuries but also damage to facilities and the environment and risks to surrounding communities.”
The loss of the board would be problematic, Retired Director of the CSB’s Regional Office Donald Holmstrom said in an interview with the Houston Chronicle. Holmstrom was quoted by the Chronicle as saying that “The EPA and OSHA don’t primarily function to prevent catastrophic incidents.” The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) do have the power to fine companies for wrongdoing, but typically do not commit their resources to a full investigation or draw industry-wide recommendations. In the case of the 2024 PEMEX leak, OSHA fined the refinery just $49,650.
The CSB is currently investigating the release of Chemical Hydrogen Sulfide as part of an accident at the same PEMEX refinery in Deer Park in 2024 that resulted in 3 dead and 13 injured.
Industrial Workplace Injuries
Due to the nature of their occupation, industrial workers in the oil and gas industry tend to face an extremely high mortality rate compared to other professions. Many of the gasses that are released, like hydrocarbons, benzene and hydrogen sulfide can be deadly if ingested in a high amount – like when a pipeline explodes or isolation and containment fails.
These accidents can result in wrongful death as was the case in the 2024 PEMEX leak. Otherwise, workers can find themselves with nausea, headaches, irritated skin, noses, or eyes, or respiratory diseases.
In the case of the recent CITGO explosion in Lake Charles, Texas, four workers were treated for burn injuries. In other cases, workers suffer direct explosion damage, broken bones and PTSD that made it difficult for them to return to work.
Unfortunately, what many people overlook in these cases is that it takes time to be able to return to work. Many injuries, especially those involving burns and broken bones, require rehabilitation time – not to mention the fact that Texas is an at-will employment state, and most employers do not retain workers that are in the process of suing them, which brings us back to recent attacks on oversight bodies. Without these bodies, it becomes more difficult to force insurance companies to pay injured workers what they are owed.
What Happens Next?
As of Oct. 10, 2024, the U.S. Government is still shut down. One of the points of contention is indeed the CSB: the senate has thus far approved a version that maintains the board’s funding while the house has voted to slash its budget by 43%. In addition, the administration has not appointed 3 out of the 5 board leadership, leaving it with just 2 members to helm the organization.
The only other independent investigative organizations are the National Transportation Safety Board and the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. All three organizations are responsible for improving safety processes and shining a light on failing aspects of their respective areas. If this trend of increased accidents and decreased regulation continues, workers will likely suffer a higher rate of injury with a weaker recourse to action.
Contact a Houston Oil & Gas Injury Attorney
If you or someone you love has been injured in an industrial accident, contact the Law Offices of Hilda Sibrian today. We are dedicated to representing the victims of negligent workplaces and industrial accidents, including those involving wrongful death.
Call 713-714-1414 or fill out our online contact form today.
