OSHA has announced that BP Products North America Inc., will pay a full penalty of $50.6 million stemming from the 2005 explosion at its Texas City, Texas, refinery that killed 15 workers and injured 170 others. In addition to paying the record fine, BP has agreed to take immediate steps to protect those now working at the refinery, allocating a minimum of $500 million to that effort.
“This agreement achieves our goal of protecting workers at the refinery and ensuring that critical safety upgrades are made as quickly as possible,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “The size of the penalty rightly reflects BP’s disregard for workplace safety and shows that we will enforce the law so workers can return home safe at the end of their day.”
Under the agreement, BP immediately will begin performing safety reviews of the refinery equipment according to set schedules and make permanent corrections. The agreement also identifies many items in need of immediate attention; the company has agreed to address those concerns quickly and to hire independent experts to monitor its efforts. Additionally, the agreement provides an unprecedented level of oversight of BP’s safety program including regular meetings with OSHA, frequent site inspections and the submission of quarterly reports for the agency’s review. Finally, in a step toward workplace safety corporate-wide, BP agrees to establish a liaison between its North American and London boards of directors and OSHA, which will allow the agency to raise compliance problems at the highest level.
“Safer conditions at this refinery should result from this arrangement, which goes far beyond what can normally be achieved through abatement of problems identified in citations,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “Make no mistake, OSHA will be watching to ensure that BP complies with the agreement and safeguards its workers.”
In September 2005, OSHA cited BP for a then-record $21 million as a result of the fatal explosion at its Texas City refinery in March of that year. Upon issuance of the citations, the parties entered into an agreement that required the company to identify and to correct deficiencies. In a follow-up investigation in 2009, OSHA found that although the company made many changes related to safety, it failed to live up to several extremely important terms of that agreement. As a result, OSHA cited BP for “failure to abate” violations with penalties totaling a record $50.6 million that BP now has agreed to pay.
During that same 2009 investigation at the Texas City refinery, OSHA also identified 439 new willful violations and assessed more than $30 million in penalties. Litigation before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission regarding those violations and penalties is ongoing and is not impacted by this settlement.
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Safer Plastics Lock in Potentially Harmful Plasticizers
Scientists have published the first report on a new way of preventing potentially harmful plasticizers from migrating from one of the most widely used groups of plastics. The advance could lead to a new generation of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics that are safer than those now used in packaging, medical tubing, toys, and other products, they say.
Helmut Reinecke and colleagues note that manufacturers add large amounts of plasticizers to PVC to make it flexible and durable. Plasticizers may account for more than one-third of the weight of some PVC products. Phthalates are the mainstay plasticizers. Unfortunately, they migrate to the surface of the plastic over time and escape into the environment. As a result, PVC plastics become less flexible and durable. In addition, people who come into contact with the plastics face possible health risks. The U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in 2009 banned use of several phthalate plasticizers for use in manufacture of toys and child care articles.
The scientists describe development of a way to make phthalate permanently bond, or chemically attach to, the internal structure of PVC so that it will not migrate. Laboratory tests showed that the method completely suppressed the migration of plasticizer to the surface of the plastic. “This approach may open new ways to the preparation of flexible PVC with permanent plasticizer effect and zero migration,” the article notes.
OSHA Fines AmeriCold Logistics $189,000 for Serious Violations
OSHA has cited AmeriCold Logistics LLC, for serious workplace hazards that are endangering its employees at the company’s Burley, Idaho, facility. The company’s Nampa, Idaho, facility was cited for similar violations in April.
“Many of the alleged violations cited were for deficiencies in AmeriCold Logistics’ process safety management, or PSM, program,” said Dean Ikeda, OSHA’s acting regional administrator in Seattle. “When properly implemented, PSM programs help ensure that operations involving hazardous chemicals are performed in a safe manner.”
OSHA’s Boise Area Office in Idaho conducted an inspection under its Chemical Industry National Emphasis Program at the AmeriCold Logistics Burley facility and found 11 alleged serious and five alleged repeat violations carrying a total of $189,000 in proposed penalties.
The serious violations related to PSM involve worker exposure to hazards due to inadequate system design information, a failure to correct equipment deficiencies, inadequate inspections of process equipment, inadequate process hazard analysis, and lack of mechanical integrity inspection documentation and written procedures for such inspections. Serious violations not related to PSM involve worker exposure to hazards due to lack of fall protection at a ladder access, lack of midrail on catwalks, unguarded evaporator fan blades, and an inadequate number of exit routes. Serious citations are issued when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from hazards about which the employer knew or should have known.
The repeat violations include unguarded open-sided floors or platforms, lack of an employee alarm system, lack of piping and instrument diagrams for equipment in safety information, lack of proper training for employees and lack of written procedures to maintain equipment. A repeat violation is issued when an employer previously was cited for the same or a similar violation of any standard, regulation, rule, or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last three years.
OSHA Cites M&G Equipment Group Following Worker Death
OSHA has cited M&G Equipment Group Ltd., doing business as M Construction in Alamo, Texas, with two alleged willful and six alleged serious violations following the death of an employee who was working in a trench installing a storm drainage system.
“A company’s failure to protect its workers from cave-ins is simply unacceptable,” said Michael Rivera, OSHA’s area director in Corpus Christi, Texas. “If OSHA’s standards regarding proper trench sloping, shoring and shielding were followed, it is possible this tragedy could have been avoided.”
OSHA’s Corpus Christi Area Office began its investigation on March 5 at South Tower Road in Alamo. Two willful violations were issued for failure to provide workers with adequate protection from a possible trench cave-in and failure of a competent person to take action where there was evidence of a possible trench cave-in. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to employee safety and health.
Proposed penalties total $53,550. OSHA standards mandate that all excavations 5 feet or deeper be protected against collapse.
Wisconsin Polishing and Plating Fined Over $75,000 for 53 Violations
OSHA has cited Wisconsin Polishing and Plating Inc., of West Allis, Wisconsin, with $75,400 in proposed penalties for allowing workers to be overexposed to chromium and chromic acid, violating federal workplace health standards.
As a result of a February 2010 inspection, OSHA has issued Wisconsin Polishing and Plating one willful, 50 serious, and two other-than-serious violations. The willful citation, with a proposed penalty of $7,000, is for allowing an employee to be exposed to chromium VI above the permissible exposure limits.
Some of the 50 serious citations, with proposed penalties of $68,100, include failing to provide proper protective equipment for employees working with lead and other extremely dangerous dust and chemicals; failure to develop or implement a hazard communication program; failure to maintain material safety data information; and allowing employees to be exposed to open circuit breaker panels and improperly marked electrical panels.
The company also received a $300 proposed fine for two other-than-serious violations, which included lack of properly marked load rating signs and failure to inform employees of their right to access medical or exposure information and records.
“Overexposure to lead, chromium VI and chromic acid is extremely dangerous, and there is no excuse for a company to disregard the safety and welfare of its workers by not following OSHA safety standards,” said OSHA Area Director George Yoksas in Milwaukee. “Those who ignore safe practices and OSHA regulations are inviting tragedy into the lives of their workers.”
OSHA Fines Hi Plains Feed $48,500 for Process Safety and Other Serious Violations
OSHA has cited Hi Plains Feed LLC, of Garden City, Kansas, for 24 alleged serious violations of process safety management for hazards found with its anhydrous ammonia system. Proposed penalties total $48,500.
“Our inspection identified numerous hazards that must be addressed,” said Charles Adkins, OSHA’s regional administrator in Kansas City, Missouri. “OSHA’s process safety management standard is stringent and comprehensive because a leak could have catastrophic consequences. It is imperative that employers take the necessary steps to eliminate hazards and provide a safe working environment for all of their employees.”
OSHA initiated an investigation of Hi Plains Feed in February under its site-specific targeting program. Serious violations cited include a lack of employee participation in and training of system operators; failure to compile process safety information and to conduct process hazard analyses; lack of written operating procedures for the ammonia process; failure to evaluate contractor safety performance and to conduct a pre-startup review after a significant facility modification; as well as a failure to manage changes and mechanical integrity of process equipment, failure to perform anhydrous ammonia release incident investigations, failure to have an adequate facility emergency plan, and failure to have compliance certification of the program.
Other serious violations include failure to maintain floors in a clean and dry condition; fall hazards due to an unguarded pit opening and lack of aerial lift training; failure to have at least two suitable gas masks available and accessible; an inadequate respirator program; lack of developed confined space procedures; and grinding wheel, compressed air, and electrical shock hazards.
OSHA Cites Roofing Contractor for Endangering Workers
OSHA has cited Eastern Roofing Systems Inc., of Moscow, Pennsylvania, for fall hazards at a residential roof repairing operation in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Proposed penalties total $53,200.
The citations and penalties stem from an April 2010 OSHA investigation which was conducted as part of a local emphasis program focusing on fall hazards in construction. As a result of the investigation, the agency has cited the company for one willful violation with a penalty of $49,000 and three serious violations with penalties totaling $4,200.
“It is the employer’s responsibility to prevent fall hazards at construction sites by providing workers with appropriate safety equipment,” said Mark Stelmack, director of OSHA’s area office in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. “More than 5,000 working men and women die on the job every year in America because of preventable injuries. And each year more than 4 million others suffer from serious occupational injuries that also could have been avoided.”
The willful violation has been issued for failing to adhere to OSHA’s standard requiring fall protection for employees working on roofs higher than 6 feet.
The serious violations are for lack of fall protection on a ladder jack scaffold, improper scaffold access, and lack of hard hat use.
OSHA Fines Johnson Controls $70,000 for Allowing Workers on Roof without Fall Protection
OSHA has cited Johnson Controls Inc., for allowing employees to work on the roof of a Toledo facility without fall protection. Proposed penalties total $70,000.
Following a June 2010 inspection, OSHA issued one alleged willful citation for failing to ensure that employees utilized mandatory fall protection while working on the roof of the Key Bank building, which is more than 40 feet off of the ground.
“There is simply no excuse for an employer to disregard the safety and welfare of its workers by not following OSHA fall protection standards,” said OSHA Area Director Jule Hovi in Toledo. “Those who ignore safe practices are inviting tragedy into the workplace.”
Johnson Controls employs more than 130,000 employees globally. According to OSHA, the company has been inspected by the agency 32 times at locations throughout the United States and has received numerous citations in the past.
OSHA Cites AAR Summa Technology in Huntsville for 22 Violations
OSHA has issued 22 citations against AAR Summa Technology for exposing workers to safety and health hazards at its Huntsville, Alabama plant. Proposed penalties total $191,500.
“Management needs to show a commitment to worker safety and health consistent with this company’s ranking as one of the top defense contractors in the world,” said Roberto Sanchez, OSHA’s area director in Birmingham, Alabama.
OSHA began its inspection in February after receiving a complaint about hazards at the facility, which produces military aircraft parts. Two willful safety violations were issued for failing to provide proper lockout/tagout procedures of energy sources for workers performing maintenance and service functions on machinery, and for failing to provide protective machine guards on equipment.
Sixteen serious safety violations were issued for failing to repair or replace hooks used to lift and hold shop fabricated lifting devices, allowing materials to obstruct the exit pathways, failing to properly maintain machinery, exposing workers to electrical hazards, failing to train workers on hazards associated with aluminum dust, and using excessively pressurized compressed air to clean off parts.
Three serious health violations were issued for exposing workers to noise hazards, failing to perform audiometric tests on employees, and failing to train workers on hazards related to noise.
A repeat health violation was issued for failing to provide a site-specific written respiratory protection program.
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