Congress Turns Up Heat on OSHA

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.occupationalhazards.com/News/Article/46267/Congress_Turns_Up_Heat_on_OSHA.aspx

March, 23 2007
Congress Turns Up Heat on OSHA
By Josh Cable, Katherine Torres

Two days after the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) unveiled a report alleging that OSHA has failed to provide effective oversight of BP's Texas City, Texas, refinery – where 15 workers were killed and 180 others were hurt in a 2005 explosion – OSHA became the target of Congressional scrutiny during a March 22 hearing on Capitol Hill.

Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, charged that because the Bush administration has transformed the agency from “a law enforcement organization to a so-called voluntary compliance organization,” he fears that the risk of injury and death remains high for workers in many U.S. oil refineries and chemical facilities.

“The BP explosion was the biggest workplace disaster in the last 18 years, yet it received very little Congressional scrutiny until today,” Miller said. “Even more upsetting is that 2 years after this catastrophe, we’re still seeing a disturbing pattern of major fires and explosions in U.S. refineries.”

Rep. Phil Hare, D-Ill. said that it is clear to him that Congress needs to take a “long look at OSHA and its effectiveness” and to see how much funding it is willing to allocate toward hiring more OSHA inspectors for refineries.

Hare also promised that he will “start kicking some OSHA people in the kneecaps” if the agency doesn't ratchet up its enforcement efforts.

CSB: OSHA Oversight of Texas City Refinery Was 'Ineffective'

CSB's 335-page report – unveiled March 20 and expected to be available to the public any day now – alleges that OSHA has neglected enforcement of its process safety management standard (29 CFR 1910.119, Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals) at oil and petrochemical facilities such as BP's Texas City refinery.

The CSB report asserts that OSHA in recent years has overlooked prevention of catastrophic process safety incidents such as the one that occurred at Texas City and instead has focused on inspecting facilities with high injury rates.

Speaking at the House hearing, CSB Chairwoman Carolyn Merritt testified that OSHA oversight of BP's Texas City, Texas refinery “was ineffective.”

FULL article at link.