A few days ago, the anniversary for one of the worst American industrial accidents came and went. It was a sad day, felt throughout the nation, and made worse by the fact that almost nothing has been learned by the mistakes that were made.
The Tragedy
On April 17, 2013 there was a fire at West Fertilizer Company. As firefighters attempted to put the fire out, the fire caused an ammonium nitrate explosion. The plant was destroyed, along with a neighboring school, apartment building, and nursing home. The poor chemical storage of West Fertilizer Company, lax government officials, and soft Texas regulations are to blame for millions in damage and the lives of fifteen people. The only thing that can be done after a terrible tragedy of this sort, is to plan accordingly and put together legislation that prevents it from ever happening again. That is the best way of honoring those who lost their lives. Except nothing has changed.
What can be done?
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board recently determined that the chemical storage used by the fertilizer company was unsafe, and that government agencies across all levels of federal, state, and local missed opportunities to prevent this from happening. There are many things we can do to prevent this from ever happening again:
- State and local government agencies need to create legislation that regulates the control and safe chemical storage regarding hazardous materials, if there isn’t any in place already for their geographical jurisdiction.
- Public schools and other buildings should have minimum distance requirements from commercial entities that store certain amounts of hazardous chemicals.
- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration needs to have the workforce available to audit firms more often that carry dangerous chemicals.
- Business owners themselves need to take responsibility for the safety of others, even if they aren’t being forced, by using safe chemical storage practices.
Chemical Storage with US HazMat Rentals
It’s up to you, the business owner or commercial enterprise manager, to protect those around you and those in your community. If the fertilizer plant in Texas had been using our products for chemical storage as opposed to the wooden bins they were purportedly using, the disaster likely would have been prevented.
Our Fire Rated Storage Buildings meet all NFPA and OSHA requirements, and are the safe alternative for storing flammable or combustible chemicals. Our two (2) hour and four (4) hour Fire Rated products have undergone severe testing to ensure that they can withstand intense flames per their ratings. Don’t repeat the mistakes that lead to the Texas fertilizer tragedy. Keep your employees and community safe, and stay connected with us by liking our Facebook Page.
