OSHA cited BP-Husky refinery for 42 willful, 20 serious violations

2010-03-10 05:46:19 (GMT) (JusticeNewsFlash.com - Employment Law, Justice News Flash)

Wiki Image: BP-Husky refinery fined over $3 million for numerous OSHA violations.

Legal News for Ohio Employment Attorneys. BP-Husky refinery received over $3 million in proposed penalties due to numerous violations.

Ohio employment lawyer alerts- OSHA cited BP for willful violations and other serious safety hazards.

Oregon, OH (News)—BP North American Inc. and BP-Husky Refining LLC have been cited for 42 suspected willful violations and 20 serious violations, in which employees were exposed to various safety hazards. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) http://www.osha.gov announced proposed penalties of $3,042,000 on Monday, March 8, 2010.

OSHA officials have inspected the BP-Husky Refinery a total of 12 times while various BP Product North American sites throughout the nation have been inspected 44 times. The Texas City Refinery reportedly faced 439 citations since a 2009 assessment, with the largest sum of proposed penalties, totaling $87 million, ever issued by OSHA. Too add to a seemingly growing list of citations, copious violations were discovered at the BP-Husky refinery upon inspection in September 2009.

According to OSHA authorities, “The inspection revealed that workers were exposed to serious injury and death in the event of a release of flammable and explosive materials in the refinery because of numerous conditions constituting violations of OSHA’s process safety management standard. OSHA has issued willful citations for numerous failures to provide adequate pressure relief for process units, failures to provide safeguards to prevent the hazardous accumulation of fuel in process heaters, and exposing workers to injury and death from collapse of or damage, in the event of a fire, to nine buildings in the refinery. Additional willful citations allege various other violations of OSHA’s standard addressing process safety management. These citations carry proposed penalties totaling $2,940,000.” Serious miscellaneous violations accounted for $102,000 in proposed fines.

Upon receiving notification of citations and their proposed penalties, BP North American Inc. has 15 business days to comply, call for a meeting with the OSHA area director or challenge the legitimacy of the issued citations and fines before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Legal News Reporter: Sandra Quinlan- Legal News for Ohio Employment Lawyers.