Editorial: “The Value of Vigilance” and the Cost of Neglect

I’ve yet to meet a chemical engineer who doesn’t enjoy watching the videos created by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB). These videos promote process safety and accident prevention through detailed analyses of recent accidents in the chemical process industries. Based on their findings from comprehensive investigations, these videos share lessons learned from tragedies and make recommendations that support a safer chemical industry.

But in late June this year, the CSB released a different kind of video. Titled “Safety Pays Off: The Value of Vigilance,” the video reviews a few of the major incidents that the CSB has investigated and lauds the value of the agency — emphasizing its modest annual budget.

The video strikes a different note than the CSB’s other, more technical videos, as it reacts to the White House’s 2026 budget, which plans to eliminate the agency — allocating $0 for the CSB in 2026.

Last year, the CSB employed fewer than 50 people with a budget of $14.4 million. Knowing that chemical incidents can cause hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage to facilities and surrounding communities, preventing even one incident would more than make up for the cost of running the CSB.

Said better: “If the CSB’s many safety lessons have prevented at least one catastrophic chemical incident, the money saved by protecting lives, preventing serious injuries and damage to facilities, safeguarding surrounding communities, and avoiding costly litigation and legal settlements far exceeds the CSB’s modest annual budget,” states CSB Chairperson Steve Owens in the video.

The likelihood of the CSB actually being defunded is uncertain. Congress has the ultimate power of the purse, and the budget must go through various committees and hearings where advocates can call for the CSB’s preservation. The first Trump administration made many attempts to dissolve the CSB, ultimately leaving the agency’s five-member board with only one seat filled in 2021. In those years, challenges with staffing, board member vacancies, and low morale hampered the effectiveness of the agency and led to backlogs of incident investigations. Still, bipartisan congressional support saved the CSB in years past, and may yet again protect this critical organization from complete dissolution.

The CSB and AIChE’s Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) have a history of collaboration. CCPS’s proactive response to CSB safety recommendations have led to the publication of books and guidelines, coordination of conferences and roundtables, and wide dissemination of vital process safety information. For example, following a recommendation from the CSB, CCPS published a Safe Work Practice document on simultaneous operations (SIMOPS) in 2025 to help manufacturers better manage hazards during SIMOPS; this recommendation was prompted by the CSB investigation of the 2020 chemical release at the Wacker Polysilicon facility. Findings from this investigation also inspired the August 2023 Process Safety Beacon on SIMOPS — distributed to 40K+ Beacon subscribers, as well as all 50K members of AIChE through CEP. The CSB’s reach is immense.

Preventing serious chemical incidents is a fundamental responsibility of our profession. The CSB plays a key role in fulfilling that responsibility by translating hard-learned lessons into tools that save lives.

A safer chemical industry depends not just on learning from the past, but on preserving the institutions that help us do so.

Emily Petruzzelli, Editor-in-Chief