Industrial chemical accidents not accurately reported in US

Industrial chemical accidents can be very dangerous for industrial workers in Pennsylvania and throughout the U.S. The government tracks industrial chemical accidents in an effort to make the industrial workplace safer. Unfortunately, a new report found that federal records on industrial chemical accidents are only 10 percent accurate.

The report said that the government is not accurately tracking chemical accidents in the country. The government was not able to collect information on all chemical industrial accidents due to so many different databases keeping track of chemical accidents but no database actually has information on all the accidents that happen every year.

Even though the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has a database that collects information on workplace accidents and injuries, including illnesses and fatalities caused by chemical exposure. However, their database combines accidents and injuries caused by chemical exposure with injuries caused by falls, trips and other accidents in their database, making it difficult to determine how many chemical accidents are happening and what is causing them.

Industrial chemical accidents can cause fatal and severe long-term injuries. Workplace safety experts say that the federal government needs to keep better track of these accidents to help identify the risks workers face and how to prevent chemical accidents and chemical exposure illnesses. Some safety experts have said that different government agencies should combine or integrate their databases to make sure they are tracking all chemical accidents.

Until a new tracking system is in place, it is likely that statistics on chemical accidents will be inaccurate.

Source: Chemistry World, “US not accurately tracking serious chemical accidents,” Rebecca Trager, Sept. 3, 2013