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 The inspection by the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration at Marathon's Galveston Bay Refinery, where the worst
U.S. refining accident of the last 30 years occurred under former
owner BP Plc, came "in response to a complaint regarding the
recording of workplace injuries and illnesses," a Labor Department
official said.
Seven current and former workers told Reuters the complaint stems
from broader concerns they have that Marathon is scrapping some of
the voluntary safety practices BP put in place after the explosion
that killed 15 people on March 23, 2005. BP sold the plant, which
used to be known as the BP Texas City refinery, to Marathon in 2013
as part of a $2.4 billion deal.
Marathon, the country's third-largest refiner with seven plants
nationwide, confirmed "OSHA initiated an investigation regarding the
proper classification of a handful of incidents."
OSHA investigations are fairly common at the nation's 142 refineries
and the launch of a probe does not necessarily mean the agency
believes there has been wrongdoing.
Since Marathon began running the refinery, workers who have been
injured are, when possible, taken to onsite doctors who treat them
with ibuprofen and ice packs, according to workers and union
representatives. The injured employees are then given drug
screenings and sent home, they said.
Being sent home to await the results of a drug test does not count
as lost time for an injury, which would need to be reported to OSHA.
"They put them off on the guise of waiting to get the drug test
results back before this person can come back to work," said Thomas
Garland, a United Steelworkers union health and safety
representative. "But in reality, these people are home healing and
it's not counted as a day away from work."
Reuters could not independently confirm these assertions. Marathon
said its policies for categorizing workplace injuries comply with
OSHA rules.
Marathon spokesman Jamal Kheiry said laborers have the power to stop
work they think is unsafe and that "protection of people is our top
operational priority."
Workers said that stop authority rests mostly with managers.
BLAST FELT MILES AWAY
Safety at the Galveston Bay plant has been a sensitive issue since
the big explosion, caused when the accidental release of a cloud of
volatile hydrocarbon vapor was ignited by the idling engine of a
parked diesel truck.
The blast, felt 5 miles (8 km) away from the refinery, killed
contract workers finishing lunch in their work trailers and injured
180 other people.
Following the explosion, BP had banned wooden trailers from the
site, and trailers in general have become less common at most U.S.
refineries to keep such structures outside areas where blast
shockwaves could splinter them. Autopsy reports said blunt force
trauma, probably from being hit by debris from the trailers, caused
the deaths in the 2005 accident.
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Marathon has allowed wooden trailers similar to the ones destroyed
in 2005 to return to limited areas, said union safety
representatives. The trailers provide office space, dining areas and
respite from heat, sun and rain during work breaks and can be moved
to different job sites.
The company said it complies with all industry standards for
locating permanent and temporary structures at the plant.
Safety representatives and workers said diesel-engine motor
vehicles, long known as a safety risk, have also been allowed to
park near refinery units. That saves time and money associated with
busing in workers from an off-site lot.
Marathon said vehicle use at the plant is limited to designated
areas.
Workers raised other concerns, such as Marathon periodically writing
variances to its own safety policies, and its proposal to replace
eight union safety representatives selected after 2005 with two
people picked by the company.
Marathon said variances are rare and Kheiry said any procedural
change is rigorously evaluated.
"Our safety procedures are designed to ensure the safest possible
environment," Kheiry said.
The last death at the Galveston Bay plant was in 2008, though there
have been injuries.
The workers' complaints come at a delicate time as Marathon and the
local chapter of the USW union negotiate a new labor contract. While
a four-year national agreement was agreed last month, safety issues
have emerged as a sticking point in local talks.
OSHA has carried out 12 inspections of Marathon sites in the past 10
years, of which only one was a result of a complaint prior to
Galveston Bay, official data show.
Fines tend to be relatively small: a 2007 inspection of the Canton,
Ohio, refinery resulted in 45 citations with total penalties of
$321,500, according to OSHA's website.
(Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Terry Wade and Alan Crosby)
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