OSHA has announced it is issuing $87,430,000 in proposed penalties to BP Products North America Inc., for the company’s failure to correct potential hazards faced by employees. The fine is the largest in OSHA’s history. The prior largest total penalty, $21 million, was issued in 2005, also against BP.
Safety violations at BP’s Texas City, Texas, refinery resulted in a massive explosion—with 15 deaths and 170 people injured—in March of 2005. BP entered into a settlement agreement with OSHA in September of that year, under which the company agreed to corrective actions to eliminate potential hazards similar to those that caused the 2005 tragedy. This announcement comes at the conclusion of a six-month inspection by OSHA, designed to evaluate the extent to which BP has complied with its obligations under the 2005 agreement and OSHA standards.
“When BP signed the OSHA settlement from the March 2005 explosion, it agreed to take comprehensive action to protect employees. Instead of living up to that commitment, BP has allowed hundreds of potential hazards to continue unabated,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “Fifteen people lost their lives as a result of the 2005 tragedy, and 170 others were injured. An $87 million fine won’t restore those lives, but we can’t let this happen again. Workplace safety is more than a slogan. It’s the law. The U.S. Department of Labor will not tolerate the preventable exposure of workers to hazardous conditions.”
For noncompliance with the terms of the settlement agreement, the BP Texas City Refinery has been issued 270 notifications of failure-to-abate with fines totaling $56.7 million. Each notification represents a penalty of $7,000 times 30 days, the period that the conditions have remained unabated. OSHA also identified 439 new willful violations for failures to follow industry-accepted controls on the pressure relief safety systems and other process safety management violations with penalties totaling $30.7 million.
“BP was given four years to correct the safety issues identified pursuant to the settlement agreement, yet OSHA has found hundreds of violations of the agreement and hundreds of new violations. BP still has a great deal of work to do to assure the safety and health of the employees who work at this refinery,” said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, Jordan Barab.
The BP Texas City Refinery is the third largest refinery in the United States with a refining capacity of 475,000 barrels of crude per day. It is located on a 1,200-acre facility in Texas City, southeast of Houston in Galveston County.
A willful violation exists where an employer has knowledge of a violation and demonstrates either an intentional disregard for the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act of 1970, or shows plain indifference to employee safety and health. A penalty of up to $70,000 may be assessed for each willful violation.
A notification of failure-to-abate can be issued if an employer fails to correct a cited condition and the citation is a final order of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. A penalty of up to $7,000 may be assessed for each day that the violation remains uncorrected.
Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Decline According to BLS Survey
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced that injury and illness rates among private industry employers are down from a total case rate of 4.2 in 2007 to 3.9 in 2008. BLS also reported a decline in non-fatal occupational injuries and illnesses from 4 million cases in 2007 to 3.7 million cases in 2008. The Secretary of Labor, Hilda L. Solis, issued the following statement:
“Preventable workplace injuries and illnesses affect millions of American workers every year, many with lifelong effects.
While I am cautiously optimistic that these decreases in injury and illness rates represent change in the right direction, they do not lessen the need for strong enforcement to ensure that safety is a top priority in every workplace.
To help verify the accuracy of injury and illness records, the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has launched a National Emphasis Program on Recordkeeping that will help assure the accuracy of injury and illness data reported by employers.
Today’s report prompts us to step up our vigilance on accurate recordkeeping, particularly as the economy regains momentum.”
OSHA to Review all OSHA State Plan Programs
Jordan Barab, acting Assistant Secretary for OSHA, told a Congressional committee that the serious shortcomings discovered during his agency’s evaluation of the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s safety program raised concerns about federal OSHA’s monitoring of all state plan states.
“To improve oversight immediately, I sent interim guidance to OSHA regional administrators about the monitoring tools available to them and encouraged more in-depth investigation of potential problems,” said Barab. “To ensure that deficiencies similar to those found in Nevada do not exist in any of the other state plans, OSHA will conduct a baseline evaluation, similar to what we conducted in Nevada, for every state that administers its own program. These evaluations will lead to better program performance and consistency throughout all state plans.”
Although federal OSHA is strengthening its oversight of state plan programs, Barab also pointed out the benefits of state programs. These programs add resources to the federal program and cover state and local government employees not covered by federal OSHA. Federal OSHA strongly supports the initiative and dedication of state programs.
“We want to work together with the states and provide assistance before a state’s program becomes deficient and causes worker deaths, injuries and illness,” said Barab. “We are not trying to change the nature of our relationship between federal and state OSHA, but we need to speak with one voice and assure American workers they will receive adequate protection regardless of the state in which they work.”
Funding Opportunity with the Health Impact Project
The Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts, is now accepting proposals for health impact assessment demonstration projects. Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) are a valuable decision-making tool for policymakers. HIAs take a flexible, data-driven approach toward identifying the health consequences of new policies, and help develop practical strategies to enhance their health benefits and minimize adverse effects.
HIAs are an effective way to incorporate health into the decisions made by sectors that do not traditionally focus on these outcomes—such as transportation, planning, education, or housing. This strategy helps communities create safer environments and facilitate healthy living. For example, an HIA for a new road could raise questions about air quality, childhood asthma, and injury rates, then address them early in the planning process.
The Health Impact Project will fund government agencies, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations at the local, state, and tribal levels. Up to 15 HIA grants will be awarded on a rolling basis and will range from between $25,000 and $150,000 each. Grantees will receive training, mentoring, and technical assistance from the Health Impact Project and leading HIA experts.
“When decision makers understand the health implications of a project, they can make better-informed choices that avoid unintended harm and unexpected costs,” said Aaron Wernham, M.D., M.S., director of the Health Impact Project and a leading national HIA expert. “We look forward to raising awareness about HIAs, and to working with many kinds of organizations around the country to help communities use this important tool.”
Burrows Paper Fined $136,500 after Worker is Caught in Machine
OSHA has cited Burrows Paper Corp., for 33 alleged violations of workplace health and safety standards after a worker sustained serious arm injuries following being partially pulled into the roller of a paper machine at the company’s Little Falls, New York, paper mill on April 28. The paper manufacturer faces a total of $136,500 in proposed fines.
OSHA’s inspection found that the roller had not been guarded against contact, and the machine’s power source had not been locked out to prevent contact with moving parts while the worker was cleaning paper off the rolls. OSHA identified several other instances of unguarded machinery, fall hazards, a locked exit, a blocked exit access, uninspected and untested lifting equipment, improper storage of compressed gas cylinders, electrical hazards, a failure to monitor employees for chromium hazards, an inadequate hearing conservation program, and several deficiencies with the mill’s confined space entry program.
“These conditions, which exposed the mill’s workers to risk of lacerations, amputation, crushing injuries, falls, electrocution and burns, as well as injuries due to being unable to swiftly exit the mill in the event of a fire or other emergency, must be addressed completely and effectively to protect safety and health,” said Christopher Adams, OSHA’s area director in Syracuse.
OSHA has issued the company two repeat citations for the unguarded roller and for unguarded open-sided work platforms, as it had cited the employer in January 2008 for similar hazards at another worksite. In addition, the mill has been issued 29 serious citations for the remaining hazards, and two other-than-serious citations for incomplete illness and injury reporting and not posting a copy of OSHA’s noise standard. OSHA issues serious citations when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from hazards about which the employer knew or should have known.
“One means of preventing accidents and injuries is through an effective safety and health management system in which employers and employees work together to proactively evaluate, identify and eliminate hazards,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York.
OSHA Fines VersaCold for Continued Workplace Safety and Health Violations
OSHA has cited VersaCold for alleged workplace safety and health violations at its former Nazareth, Pennsylvania facility, proposing $51,000 in penalties. OSHA initiated a complaint investigation on June 8. As a result, the company received citations for two repeat violations with a $50,000 penalty and one other-than-serious violation with an $850 penalty.
The repeat violations are for failing to properly train temporary workers on the use of industrial trucks. OSHA issues a repeat violation when it finds a substantially similar violation of any standard, regulation, rule or order issued to the same employer within the previous three years.
The other-than-serious violation is for the company’s failure to record lost time injuries to temporary workers.
“Properly training workers is a crucial element in preventing workplace accidents,” said Jean Kulp, area director of OSHA’s Allentown, Pennsylvania, office. “It is vital that the company eliminate these violations to protect the safety and health of its workers.”
VersaCold, which no longer operates the Nazareth facility, provides logistics management services and employs more than 330 workers at its various facilities.
Veolia ES Technical Solutions Faces $45,000 Fine Following Explosion at Chemical Plant
OSHA has proposed $45,000 in fines against Veolia ES Technical Solutions in West Carrollton, Ohio, alleging 11 serious violations of federal workplace health and safety standards. OSHA initiated two inspections at this facility after powerful explosions shortly before midnight on May 3. The explosions were the result of a large cloud of flammable and solvent vapor ignited by boilers at the worksite. Two workers were seriously injured in the blasts and several onsite buildings were destroyed.
Issues addressed by OSHA’s citations include the lack of a control room where an abnormal condition could be detected and substantially corrected by workers, while also serving as a safe haven for workers during a fire or explosion. Additionally, OSHA cited a lack of systems that route flammable vapors away from pressure relief devices toward a safe location, such as a chilled dump tank, to prevent the formation of a large cloud of flammable vapor that can explode with destructive force if it encounters an ignition source.
At the time of the May 3 explosion, Veolia’s West Carrollton facility employed approximately 70 workers. The North American Division of Veolia ES Technical Solutions employed more than 2,000 people at that time. Veolia distills and purifies contaminated organic solvent solutions at the West Carrollton facility. Veolia has been inspected six times between 2006 and 2009, resulting in the issuance of five serious and seven other-than-serious violations.
OSHA’s area director, Richard Gilgrist, stated, “While the accident investigation proceeded, a second, concurrent OSHA inspection took place at the West Carrollton facility to evaluate the company’s compliance with OSHA’s process safety management standard.” The findings from the second OSHA inspection, Gilgrist indicated, are expected to be announced soon.
OSHA Proposes $42,225 Fines Against New Balance Athletic Shoe for Electrical Hazards at Distribution Center
OSHA has cited New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc., for alleged repeat and serious violations of workplace safety standards following an inspection at the shoe manufacturer’s Lawrence, Massachusetts, distribution center. The company faces a total of $42,225 in proposed fines.
OSHA’s inspection found unqualified employees working on electrical panels that had not first been de-energized to prevent electric shock hazards. In addition, the workers had not been trained in safe electrical work practices, including the use of PPE, and were not wearing protective gloves. The inspection also identified ungrounded equipment, unmarked electrical disconnects, extension cords used in place of fixed wiring, and wooden pallets that posed a fire hazard.
“Electricity moves at the speed of light and can kill or disable a worker literally in a flash, which is why proper training, procedures and personal protective equipment are all essential to safeguarding workers against this hazard,” said Paul Mangiafico, OSHA’s area director for Middlesex and Essex counties. “While it is fortunate that no electrocution occurred in this case, worker safety must not ever be left to chance.”
As a result of its inspection, OSHA has issued the company three repeat citations, with $35,000 in fines, for the lack of training and PPE and for an ungrounded piece of equipment; and four other serious citations, with $7,225 in fines, for the remaining items. The repeat citations stem from New Balance having been cited by OSHA in 2006 for similar hazards at its Norway, Maine, location.
OSHA Cites Crane and Grain Service for Safety Violations Following Employee Fatality
OSHA has cited Crane and Grain Service LLC of York, Nebraska, for alleged violations of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act of 1970.
OSHA cited the company following an investigation into a fatal accident in York where a worker was electrocuted from an improperly wired flexible cord. The inspection found three alleged serious violations of the OSH Act.
“This accident was preventable,” said Charles Adkins, OSHA’s regional administrator in Kansas City, Missouri. “Employers need to be proactive in addressing safety issues to ensure their workplaces are safe and healthful.”
The alleged serious violations stem from the employer using a flexible cord that was not properly wired, improper use of ladders that were damaged, and lack of ladder training.
The violations carry $9,300 in proposed penalties against the company.
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