BP under fire on safety record

UK based oil and gas giant BP has reported third accident at its Texas City refinery near Houston. This comes after an explosion in March which killed 15 people and injured more than 170. The incident resulted in numerous law suits against the company and increased scrutiny of BP operations by its union and regulators.

US authority investigating BP’s refinery accidents, accused the oil company of “systemic lapses” and called for an independent review of safety at its 5 US plants. The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board said ‘Investigations of the March 23 accident showed BP started the isomerisation unit where the explosion occurred knowing alarms and the level transmitters are broken. BP never investigated previous abnormal start-ups’. The board added that BP’s written start-up procedures “were incomplete”.

The incident has angered BP workers. Joseph Moise, a veteran boiler makers, says “Each time BP suffers another accident he relives the March explosion that left him with torn ligaments and anguish that led to snapping at his six year old daughter”. He is one of the several hundreds who have filed law suits against BP. He says BP’s plant is the worst maintained in the Houston area. With oil prices running at a record high, refineries are running at full capacity with scant regard to safety requirements. BP workers have claimed that its poor safety record was due to cost cutting deferred maintenance and use of contractors. The US Occupation Safety and Health Administration is also investigating the accidents.