By Ken Ward Jr.

This morning, the CSB issued a safety bulletin, based on its investigation at ConAgra, urging companies, gas installers and contractors to follow safe practices during gas purging operations, including venting purged gases outdoors whenever practicable.

But the United Food and Commerical Workers union responded by blasting the board for not also recommending strong new safety standards to protect workers in food processing and other facilities that use natural gas.

Jackie Nowell, occupational safety and health director for the union, said:

Once again the CSB has failed to take the most basic steps for the safety of American workers. By not recommending urgent standards on fuel gas purging they leave the lives of thousands of workers at risk.

At ConAgra, investigators believe that contractors installing a water heater vented natural gas inside the building, leading to the explosion. According to an Associated Press account:

Safety board staff identified similar explosions that involved the purging of gas lines, including a May 2008 incident during the construction of a San Diego hotel that injured 14, an August 2007 explosion at a hotel in Cheyenne, Wyo., that injured two, and an explosion at a Porterville, Calif., school that burned two plumbers in November 2005. They also noted another North Carolina incident—a 1997 explosion at a fitness center in Cary that injured six.

The CSB’s safety bulletin is available here. The board has previously been criticized for not immediately acting on its own staff recommendations to distribute a safety bulletin and recommendations urging more ccontrols on how workers handle the purging of gas lines.

But now, the union is upset that the bulletin the board has issued did not recommend changes in fire codes that would restrict the practice of purging gas piping and set criteria for performing this process safely. While CSB Chairman John Bresland commended the state of North Carolina for their actions to change their codes, the board did not recommend the same for national fire codes.

Nowell said:

“If the CSB continues to fail America’s workers by not taking a stronger stand for safety, it’s time for change at the CSB.”