BP Refinery Blast: Osha has Friday deadline to act

19 September 2005 22:48  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha) has until Friday to issue citations in its probe of the deadly 23 March explosion at the BP refinery in Texas City, Texas, an Osha spokesperson said on Monday.

 

Osha spokesperson Diane Peterson said federal law requires Osha to issue findings and any citations within six months of an incident.

 

United Steelworkers (USW) labour union Region 6 director Gary Beevers said Osha and BP were in settlement discussions. A settlement could include reduce reduced penalties and undisclosed findings.

 

Beevers said the USW is not involved in the settlement talks. He said the labour union is pushing to make any Osha findings public.

 

Meanwhile, BP chief executive Lord John Browne was in Texas on Monday “for a series of internal meetings,” said BP spokesman Ronnie Chappell. Chappell would not disclose the nature of the meetings.

 

BP’s own investigative report for the 23 March explosion is expected to be made public later this month or in early October, Chappell said.

 

The explosion at the refinery’s isomerisation unit killed 15 contract workers and injured 170 others.

 

The US Chemical Safety Board last month called for an independent panel to review safety management issues at BP after finding “systemic lapses in organisational decision making, safety oversight, and safety culture.”

By: Brian Ford
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