Focus on Refinery Safety
Five years ago in March explosions rocked the BP refinery in Texas City, Texas, as workers restarted equipment used to boost the octane level of gasoline. Explosions and fire killed 15 workers and injured another 180 that day. It was the deadliest refinery disaster in a decade and the worst U.S. industrial accident in 15 years. Investigators uncovered “organizational and safety deficiencies at all levels,” stemming from years of corporate focus on profits without adequate consideration of safety … more

Written in Blood
Historically, health and safety legislation has been written in the blood of workers. The U.S. Bureau of Mines was created in 1910 with the mission of promoting safety in the wake of the widely-publicized 1907 mine disaster at Monongah, W.Va., the nation’s worst, an explosion that killed 362 workers. The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSHA), signed by President Richard Nixon in 1970, was propelled by the revelation in 1967 that almost a hundred uranium miners had died of lung cancer since the 1940’s and as many as 1,000 more cancer deaths were predicted … more

            Also on this page: Refinery Fires and Fatalities

Tesoro Refinery Explosion Kills 7
Kim Nibarger had just arrived at his parents’ house in Anacortes, Wash., for an Easter visit when the USW health and safety specialist heard, through closed windows, the muffled sounds of an explosion – a deep whoop, whoop. It was almost 12:30 a.m. on Good Friday, April 2. Nibarger stepped out on the porch and heard sirens coming from the Tesoro refinery about five miles away. He jumped in a car to get a closer look. “I knew immediately what it was,’’ said Nibarger, a former USW local … more

Get Involved
USW Developing Safety Action Plan
A two-day emergency meeting of USW leaders in the oil industry will be held in Pittsburgh starting June 15 to discuss and develop an action plan to improve industry safety conditions. The recent series of catastrophic fires, explosions and accidents in the energy industry prove the need for USW members to get involved in pushing for reform. Elements of the campaign could include lobbying for updated laws to protect all workers, pressing for stronger enforcement of existing safety regulations as well as ... more

                   Also on this page: USW Remembers Fallen Brothers and Sisters, Presidential Proclamation – Obama call for Renewed Commitment to Worker Safety