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Georgia worker safety should be improved by new changes recently announced to OSHA polices. The hazards facing oil refinery workers are the main focus of these changes. After investigating the tragedy at the BP refinery in Texas City, Texas, OSHA made changes to its policies.

In 2005, the BP oil refinery in Texas City experienced an explosion. Tragically, this explosion injured over 100 employees and killed 15. The blast was intense, and flames shot into the air. Images of the fire were shown globally, and debris from the explosion covered nearby areas.

The oil refinery in Texas City had 1,800 employees. Losing this refinery reduced the US daily total of barrels of crude oil processed by about 3%. This reduction contributed to an increase in gasoline prices in the summer of 2006.

This terrible explosion also caused the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to focus on the safety of workers in oil refineries. The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) produced a report after investigating what happened in Texas City.

According to Edwin G. Foulke Jr., Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, “The refinery industry has been a major focus for OSHA, and the CSB report confirms we are on the right track. OSHA already has implemented two of the CSB’s three major recommendations and increased our inspections in the refining industry.”

To increase Georgia worker safety and the safety of workers in other states, OSHA has conducted many oil refinery inspections. Last year, over 100 refineries were inspected. In 2007, OSHA has inspected 50 refineries.

Sadly, when OSHA inspected a refinery owned by BP in Ohio, it discovered identical violations to those that caused the explosion in Texas City. The conclusion OSHA reached was that BP hadn’t learned from the previous tragedy that resulted in so many injuries and deaths. To improve safety conditions, OSHA has added new inspectors that are trained to inspect refineries. 

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