Refinery Safety – CSB Report on 2015 Torrance Refinery Explosion

 (photo courtesy of Reuters)

The chemical safety board just released its report on the 2015 explosion that occurred at the Torrance, CA, refinery. Four workers suffered minor injuries from the incident, but a near miss occurred when a large piece of debris flew 80′ to a nearby alkylation unit barely missing the settler tanks containing toxic hydrofluoric acid.  The refinery was shut down for repairs, and because it supplies 20% of the gasoline in southern California, gasoline prices in the state were also affected.

Fortunately, there were no fatalities.  AIS, which provides software solutions to the hydrocarbon process industries, was created in the wake of a similar industrial accident where several of our friends were killed. Everything we do, and all of the products we make, are created for just one purpose; to make industry safer by providing all workers the information they need to perform their jobs, manage the process, and maintain the facility as safely as possible.

The CSB is a scientific investigative organization; it is not an enforcement or regulatory body. Established by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, the CSB is responsible for determining accident causes, issuing safety recommendations, studying chemical safety issues, and evaluating the effectiveness of other government agencies involved in chemical safety. We at AIS applaud the important work that the CSB performs investigating the root causes of industrial accidents and publishing these reports which are then used by industrial standards organizations like API and ASME to improve industrial safety and the safety of industrial workers.

Here is a link to the Hydrocarbon Processing Magazine article.

Here is a link to the Chemical Safety Board’s report.