Too few state oil refinery-safety checks
Source: SF Chronicle
California regulators have not been conducting the intensive workplace-safety inspections of Chevron's Richmond plant and the state's 14 other oil refineries that federal standards call for, a Chronicle investigation shows.
The limited checks that California inspectors have performed over the last decade have not led to a single fine collected from a major oil company, according to inspection records.
Those findings are backed up by a recently released federal audit of the state's Division of Occupational Safety and Health, which is charged with enforcing state and federal workplace-safety rules at California refineries. It found that the California agency had conducted "very few, if any" comprehensive inspections of oil and chemical plants under its authority.
Cal/OSHA officials said the federal auditors' findings did not reflect the complete picture of their inspection and enforcement efforts. They said they would respond in detail directly to the auditors.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Too-few-state-oil-refinery-safety-checks-3846415.php
oldsarge54
(582 posts)What is the Republican mantra, deregulate. Responding to safety regulations and inspections costs money. This is one reason the Republicans are pushing for "states rights" or "let the state do it, it is not a Federal responsibility." State officials are easier to bribe or intimidate. Also, at least here in Texas, "regulators" are drawn from the industry they are regulating. Oil men run oil safety, businessmen take care of labor relations. Funny thing, teachers seem to be un-welcomed in positions controlling education. At the national level, why did the Republicans fight so hard against a union man on the Labor board? Remember that mine owner in West Virginia who keeps suing the government each time his mine failed an inspection, until he lost a lot of people?
I demand a complete list of "job killing" regulations from Mr Romney that he intends to wipe off the books.
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Dustlawyer
(10,493 posts)of the blast were the thousands of violations that were allowed to go on for decades. The trailer next to the unit where all 15 died was not supposed to be there had been there for years. The refineries get hit with big fines when severe accidents happen, but they know that a $100,000 fine gets reduced to $1,000 or even $100. It is cheaper to pay the fines than fix the violations. BP had thousands of violations found after the blast. 3 years later they had fixed almost none even though several more workers had been killed since. BP was on probation when the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon killed 11 more and ruined the Gulf. We asked Eric Holder to revoke their Probation, they let them off of it instead!