US agency: Deaths show DuPont has 'failed' safety program

Source: yahoo/AP

U.S. regulators on Thursday took DuPont to task for a massive gas leak last year that killed four workers at a plant in Texas, placing the chemical company in its "severe violator enforcement program" and saying the accident shows it has a "failed safety program."

The Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration said the deaths were preventable and revealed hazards that undermine the company's claims of a world-class safety culture.

The agency had previously cited the company for 11 safety violations related to the November deaths at the La Porte plant and on Thursday announced an additional eight offenses, including three "willful" violations. The agency has proposed penalties of $273,000 for the new violations.

OSHA also placed the Wilmington, Delaware-based company in a program that scrutinizes employers that show "indifference" to creating a safe workplace. The decision means DuPont's La Porte plant will be subject to follow-up inspections to ensure compliance with the law, federal officials say.

DuPont "markets its safety expertise to other employers, but these four preventable workplace deaths and the very serious hazards we uncovered at this facility are evidence of a failed safety program," David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, said in a statement from the agency.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/us-agency-deaths-show-dupont-failed-safety-program-221020391--finance.html