US Senate confirms Bresland to head safety panel

14 March 2008 18:38  [Source: ICIS news]

WASHINGTON (ICIS news)--The US Senate confirmed John Bresland on Friday as the new chairman of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), filling a key position that has been vacant since August 2007.

 

Bresland, who completed a five-year stint as a regular member of the board in August, formerly worked for Honeywell and is an authority on dust explosions and reactive chemical hazards - two areas where the board has been particularly active in recent years.

 

In his earlier role as regular board member, Bresland was active in ten CSB investigations. Most recently, he had oversight responsibility for the board’s investigation of the March 2005 explosion and fire that killed 15 workers and injured nearly 200 others at the BP refinery in Texas City, Texas.

 

A safety board spokesman said on Friday that Bresland is expected to be sworn in as chairman by the end of this month.

 

Bresland holds chemistry degrees from Londonderry Technical College in Northern Ireland and Salford University in England. In addition to his work in various roles at Honeywell, including that of plant manager, he was president of a chemical process safety consulting firm before being named to the board in August 2002.

 

He also has served as a staff consultant at the Center for Chemical Process Safety for the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, where he oversaw committee creation of books on explosive dust and reactive chemical hazards.

 

Bresland also is a nationally registered emergency medical technician.

 

Senate confirmation of another nominated board member, Russell Shearer, is still pending. Shearer now serves as the deputy chief for enforcement and technical matters in the office of health, safety and security at the Department of Energy.

 

If confirmed as expected, Shearer’s appointment will bring the board up to its full five-member complement for the first time since August last year.

By: Joe Kamalick
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