Critics of the oil giant say a safety culture is lacking.
BP Products North America will pay $13,027,000 in additional penalties and fix workplace violations that led to the deaths of 15 workers and injuries to 180 others at its Texas City refinery in 2005. Back in September 2005, OSHA cited BP for a then-record $21 million – but that was before the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf – because of the explosion at Texas City. Under the agreement, BP has fixed or will fix all existing violations by the end of 2012.
In a 2009 follow-up investigation to evaluate BP’s performance under the 2005 agreement, OSHA found that although BP had made some improvements at the plant, the company had failed to correct a number of items, which led OSHA to issue 270 failure-to-abate notices.
In a 2010 settlement, BP agreed to pay a penalty of $50.6 million to resolve those notices. Also in 2009, OSHA cited BP for 439 willful violations of the agency’s standards, including failure to follow industry-accepted engineering practices for pressure relief safety systems. Those citations carried total proposed penalties of $30.7 million. Of the 439 October 2009 willful citations, all but 30 are settled by this agreement.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees.
See also:
- Former BP Engineer Arrested for Obstruction of Justice in Ongoing Deepwater Horizon Criminal Investigation
- Gulf after BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Needs Help
- BP Fined $8 Million for Clean Air Act Violation in Indiana
