Explosions, Fires, Releases Not Investigated...Alarming Trend

Workplace accidents that consist of fires and explosions where workers are killed and injured are a regular occurence in the United States,. Many accidents are not even investigated so changes in OSHA or EPA regulatory standards are not even pursued. Will the Chemical Safety Board investigation at the Imperial Sugar Refinery bring forth changes in regulatory standards to improve workplace safety?

Two California Democrats in Congress who serve on labor panels, George Miller and Lynn Woolsey, wrote the labor secretary Friday, saying, "a mandatory combustible dust standard should be a high priority of OSHA. ... We strongly urge you to act now."

Source: ap.google.com via watermon

The recent refinery explosion at the Imperial Sugar Refinery on the west bank of the Savannah River has created a national concern of workplace safety. The magnitude of this incident brings to mind the BP refinery explosion in 2005. In addition to the physical and mental suffering that the workers and families are experiencing there is the tremendous economic impact with the company losing a large part of its refining capacity in conjunction with the livelihood of the local community.

CSB Investigation

A team of investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) have been deployed to the site to determine the root cause of the explosion at the sugar plant. The CSB is an independent federal investigative agency that became operational in 1998 with statutory authorization from amendments to the 1990 Clean Air Act. Since its inception the agency has assisted industry concerning workplace safety with its recommendations to the EPA and OSHA concerning changes in regulatory standards. Whether the recommendations will be followed by the governmental agencies is another question.

Alarming Trend
An unbelievable and alarming trend has been occurring over the years concerning workplace accidents in chemical plants, manufacturing facilities, production facilities, and refineries. For example, these accidents are not being properly investigated by the federal government and so industry is continuing as usual with extended capital gains to the detriment of the worker.

2007 Incidents
Last year alone in 2007, the CSB reported in its recently released 2/4/008 “Budget Justification for Fiscal Year 2009,” that it received notifications of 937 chemical incidents from sources that included the National Response Center, media reports, and other federal agencies such as the EPA and OSHA. Yet investigators were only deployed to eight incidents and onlyfive incidents were investigated. Wouldn’t it be odd following an aircraft accident, if the FAA or National Transportation Safety Board were not deployed to investigate?

It’s unthinkable to believe that explosions at a rubber manufacturing warehouse or a chemical manufacturing facility, where workers are killed that a federal investigation would not ensue
to find the root cause of the accident and prevent future accidents with changes in regulatory standards. These are just two example of 23 similar incidents in severity that CSB investigators where not deployed to investigate in 2007 due to staffing limitations.

Regulatory Change Needed
What strikingly comes to mind at this time after the recent Imperial Sugar Refinery explosion is that on November 2, 2007 a dust explosion at the Domino Sugar Refinery in Baltimore, Maryland. One worker was burned and required the evacuation of approximately 175 others. The illuminating aspect is that this incident was not investigated by CSB either. Would such an investigation brought forth change in industry standards and workplace safety as was the case after the CSB investigation of the BP refinery explosion? It’s too late now to question that. But maybe this time awareness will develop amongst our nation’s legislators and will proceed inremedying the situation with congressional action. The strongest and most valuable asset of corporate capital gains is in its human resources.

NowPublic

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