Pipeline safety improvements continued with the recent implementation of three National Transportation Safety Board safety recommendations that called for application of the management of change process to identify natural gas system threats, the inclusion of professional engineers in engineering plan and constructability review processes as well as in public utility engineering drawings in Massachusetts.
The NTSB listed
safety recommendations P-18-005, P-18-006 and P-18-008 as closed, acceptable
action, Monday, on the NTSB’s
2019-2020 Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements bringing
to 14,
the number of safety recommendations acceptably closed since the kickoff of the
campaign Feb.
4, 2019.
Safety Recommendation P-18-005 was issued to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
and safety recommendations P-18-006 and P-18-008 were issued to NiSource.
“NTSB safety
recommendations, if implemented, can help prevent accidents from happening,
which saves lives,” said NTSB
Chairman Robert Sumwalt. “These pipeline safety recommendations were issued
in the wake of the Merrimack
Valley, Massachusetts
natural gas accident that damaged 126 structures, destroyed five homes, injured
22 people and tragically killed one person. The implementation of these
recommendations is a significant step in improving natural gas pipeline safety
for these communities and across the nation,” said Sumwalt.
The NTSB’s Most
Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements serves as the agency’s road
map from lessons learned to lives saved, identifying safety recommendations
that are ripe for action and that if implemented, have the potential to prevent
accidents, minimize injuries and save lives.
To report an incident/accident or if you are a public safety agency, please call 1-844-373-9922 or 202-314-6290 to speak to a Watch Officer at the NTSB Response Operations Center (ROC) in Washington, DC (24/7).
