2007 USW Report
Warned of More Refinery Accidents
Union
Expresses Outrage that Disasters Still Occurring Amid Industry Inaction
(Pittsburgh)—The United
Steelworkers (USW) today said that the refinery industry has failed to learn
from past disasters and that its 2007 report, Beyond Texas City: The State
of Process Safety in the Unionized U.S. Oil Refining Industry is more
relevant than ever in light of the April 2 Tesoro explosion and fire that
killed five workers and critically injured two others.
“It is totally
unacceptable that the refining industry continues to fail in securing the
safety of workers, surrounding communities and our nation’s energy
supplies,” said USW Vice President Gary Beevers, who is in charge of the
union’s oil sector. “We can no longer tolerate industry’s failure to
follow OSHA and EPA regulations and its inability to learn from recurring
disasters, and its refusal to commit the resources necessary to prevent these
tragedies.”
Nine months following the March 23, 2005
explosion and fire at BP’s Texas City refinery that killed 15 workers and
injured 180 others, the Tony Mazzocchi Center for Health, Safety and
Environmental Education joined with the USW to survey and examine potentially
catastrophic conditions at 51 refineries across the U.S.
The industry-wide survey showed refiners
were not following the letter and spirit of OSHA’s process safety standard.
When survey respondents rated 16 process safety systems for start-ups or
shutdowns, 87 percent said the overall management of process safety systems at
their sites was less than very effective – a level deemed necessary for such
dangerous operations.
The report concluded:
- There
remains an alarming potential for future refinery disasters.
- The
refining industry has stubbornly resisted opportunities for learning and
improvement from years of disasters.
- The
highly hazardous conditions similar to those found at BP Texas City were
still pervasive in U.S. refineries months following that disaster.
- Industry
response since Texas City has been anemic.
- The
letter and the spirit of OSHA’s Process Safety Standard remain
unfulfilled.
- Should
an emergency occur, refineries are not sufficiently prepared.
While the USW noted in the report that
strong proactive OSHA regulation and enforcement are essential, it also called
on the industry to take urgent critical actions to address major deficiencies.
Included among these were ensuring that all non-essential personnel are
outside of hazardous areas (vulnerability zones), especially during start-ups,
shutdowns, or other unstable operating conditions.
The union also called on refiners to
develop and implement policies requiring full safety reviews prior to all
process start-ups and scheduled shutdowns.
“Our union will fight as long and hard
as it takes to gain real protection for the lives and health of every
worker,” said Beevers.
The USW is the largest industrial union
in North America and has 850,000 members in the U.S., Canada, and the
Caribbean. It represents workers employed in metals, rubber, chemicals, paper,
oil refining, atomic energy and the service sector.
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