AcuSafe -> September 1999 Newsletter
  

 Chemical Incident Reporting Center (CIRC) Beta Site Available from the CSB

  
Throughout the day, every day, the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) receives initial reports about chemical incidents that have occurred around the world. The information comes from official government sources, the news media, eyewitnesses and others.

The CSB:
 

• incorporates incident information into databases that it maintains;
• shares incident information with other government agencies and chemical safety stakeholders;
• makes decisions about whether to deploy investigation teams based on supplementary information developed after the initial report is received.

The sheer volume of incident reports received each day exceeds the investigative resources of the CSB or any other single organization. Yet sharing knowledge of these incidents may make it possible for others to take actions that may contribute to improving chemical safety.

Therefore, the Chemical Safety Board has committed resources to create and maintain the Chemical Incident Reports Center (CIRC). This dynamic, searchable online database of chemical incidents, although subject to limitations inherent in any compilation of information of this type (see disclaimer below), may enable or inspire actions by a researcher, a government agency or others in support of improving chemical safety.
 

The CSB is building the CIRC database from two different "data directions." Current incidents are entered as received; older incidents (currently beginning 1998) are being entered as resources permit.