United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2000-07-11 monographic deposited born digital 41 p. GA 1.13:RCED-00-192 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-192 P0b002ee18039d1c8 f:rc00192 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-192 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-192 RCED-00-192 Investigations by federal agencies Safety standards Hazardous substances Procurement regulations Industrial accidents Accident prevention Contract oversight Public administration Strategic planning Agency missions Letter Report RCED

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board's management problems, focusing on: (1) the status of the Board's organization and operations; (2) the Board's efforts to update and develop plans, policies, and procedures for accomplishing the Board's mission, including those aimed at ensuring the objectivity of its investigative activities; and (3) whether the Board would benefit from the independent oversight of an inspector general.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) since January 2000, the Board has been operating under a new organizational structure based on shared decision-making, which was not in effect during most of its first 2 years of operation; (2) continuing disagreements between three of the Board members and the former Chairman raise questions concerning the Board's future productivity and effectiveness; (3) in terms of operations, the Board has made only limited progress in addressing the investigative backlog that developed after its first year, and it has not initiated a new investigation since March 1999; (4) however, the realigned Board established eight priorities for the balance of fiscal year 2000 that support its primary investigative mission, including the completion of three investigative reports; (5) the Board has made some progress in developing needed plans, policies, and procedures to guide its activities; (6) for example, the Board issued formal written procedures for awarding and managing contracts in December 1999; (7) however, these policies were not in place when most of the Board's larger contracts ($100,000 or more) were executed, and Board officials have identified a number of contracting activities that appear to have provided limited benefit to the agency; (8) furthermore, the Board is revising its interim criteria for selecting incidents to investigate as well as its investigative protocol and is developing a strategic plan to both meet statutory requirements and update its business plan; (9) the Board plans to have these plans and guides completed by September 2000; (10) the Board's interim investigative protocol does not include needed policies and procedures that would help ensure objectivity and balance in its investigative work, such as those covering conflicts of interest; (11) the operational problems that the Board has experienced in its 2-1/2 years of existence--including governance and management conflicts, contracting expenditures of limited value, and the lack of basic operating policies and procedures--suggest that ongoing institutional oversight would be beneficial; and (12) while the Board could develop an in-house audit function or contract out for evaluations, GAO believes an option that offers the best potential for effective oversight would be for the Board to obtain the services of an existing office of inspector general. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-192/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-192.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-192/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-192.pdf GAO/RCED-00-192 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-192 Letter Report GAO/RCED-00-192; Chemical Safety Board: Improved Policies and Additional; Investigations by federal agencies Safety standards Hazardous substances Procurement regulations Industrial accidents Accident prevention Contract oversight Public administration Strategic planning Agency missions Title 42 Section 7412(r)(6) 42 U.S.C. 7412(r)(6)