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Corporate Upper Class
Though the U.S. Department of Labor has repeatedly ranked the chemical industry four times safer than other manufacturing businesses, the deadly incidents that do occur at petrochemical facilities are violent and frequent.
According to the findings of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, since 1998 an average of five plant workers have been killed every month in the United States by explosions or leaks of chemicals that have become integral to modern industrial life.
After the deadly 1989 explosion of Phillips Houston Chemical Complex that claimed the lives of 23 people in Pasadena, Congress setup a system designed to reduce the number of chemical accidents by forming the investigative board, known for short as CSB. Congress established the board to overhaul the Clean Air Act and to create an independent agency designed to keep tabs on the chemical and petroleum industry.
Despite being established in 1990, the board did not issue its first report until February 2001. In the board’s first annual report, the board acknowledged that each year perhaps 100 serious chemical incidents occur. However, of these 100 incidents, the board said it only has the resources to fully investigate two incidents annually. The board operates on a $4 million dollar annual budget.
Meanwhile, Phillips suffered two more tank residue detonations since 1989 in the facility’s K-Resin plant. In June 1999 an explosion at Phillips claimed the lives of two people and injured four others. On March 27, 2000, another explosion in the rebuilt K-Resin unit killed one person and injured 71 others.
The board shows fewer accidents with 10 or more death in the past 10 years, but the records are so tightly sealed that it is impossible to know whether the decrease is due to the industry adopting safer practices or using fewer workers.
Tracy Copeland, communications manager for Chevron-Phillips, said that Phillips has had a static employment rate over the past two years, but would not reveal how many reported accidents the Pasadena site has had.
The industry’s own reports to the government show at least one chemical accident somewhere in the nation every day. The reports are underrepresented because no one knows how to tell how many accidents go unreported.
According to the CSB, the injury rate in chemical and petroleum industries fell by more than one third from 1989 to 1998, but total fatalities hit a five-year high in 1998.
Jeff Kuper said he found himself caught in the explosion on March. Kuper had worked for Phillips for the past 19 years and had been working as an electrician for the Pasadena site for the past seven years.
“Ironically we were doing a safety audit that day,” Kuper said. “A tank exploded, and we were on the decking. Below us was a huge fire. We were able to find our way out but experienced horrific burn injuries.
Kuper has not been able to return to work since the accident and has second and third degree burns covering over 40 percent of his body. Kuper said he is facing two more surgeries, and plans to return to work in January.
According to figures from the board, Texas comes in second, after Oklahoma, in the number of reported injuries on chemical plant sites.
“Every accident is preventable,” Kuper said. “There are things that could’ve been done to prevent what happened.”
“I really felt confident in all the systems,” Kuper said. “I felt comfortable in and around the equipment.”
Kuper knew what he was supposed to do when he found himself in the middle of a fire, but he said he also knew the system should not have failed. Kuper said people working in a plant environment have a sense of confidence.
“It’s much like getting in a car and driving around. After an accident you’re more alert,” Kuper said. “I really felt confident that all the systems and laws were written to protect employees.”
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration concluded a six-month investigation of the 2000 Phillips explosion. OSHA said that failure to train workers properly was a key factor in the explosion and fire. The agency also proposed that Phillips be fined $2.5 million in penalties for 50 alleged violations of safety standards at the facility.
Copeland said Phillips is currently working with OSHA in an effort to resolve the issue.
© Copyright World Internet News 2006-07
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