OSHA Opens Nominations to NACOSH, BP Settles with OSHA

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced on July 25 that it was now accepting nominations for four members to serve on the 12-member National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH), which advises the Secretaries of Labor and Health and Human Services on the administration of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

OSHA said that nominations will be accepted for one representative from each of the following areas: management, occupational health, occupational safety, and public. Each member serves a two-year term.

OSHA occupational safety training, such as OSHA 10 training and OSHA 30, is today required by many employers as an employment requisite, and its adoption by all employers is strongly encouraged by OSHA.

Also according to the agency, nominations may be submitted at www.regulations.gov, the Federal eRulemaking Portal, or sent by mail or facsimile. Or nominations by mail, hand delivery or messenger service, OSHA requires three copies to the OSHA Docket Office, Room N-2625, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20210, with phone number 202-693-2350. Deadline for the submission of nominations has been set for September 10, 2012.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 mandates that employers are responsible for providing keeping worksites and workplaces safe and healthful for all their workers. OSHA has been designated as watchdog, ensuring that these conditions are dutifully met.

Meanwhile, OSHA also announced that the agency and BP Products North America Inc. have resolved most (409 of 439) citations issued by it in October 2009. BP agreed to pay $13,027,000 in penalties and has already stopped some violations and is in the process of abating the rest, with the end of 2012 as its deadline.

OSHA reported that most of BP’s infractions were willful violations of OSHA’s process-safety management (PSM) standard at the oil company’s refinery in Texas City, Texas.

“Protecting workers and saving lives is the ultimate goal of this agreement,” pointed out Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “For the workers at BP’s Texas City refinery, this settlement will help establish a culture of safety. The workers who help keep our nation’s oil and gas industries running deserve to go to work each day without fear of losing their lives.”

According to OSHA, in September 2005 it cited BP for a record $21 million following the catastrophic explosion at its Texas City facility that killed 15 workers in March 2005. OSHA and BP later came to an agreement that compelled BP to correct its deficiencies.

In a follow-up investigation in 2009, OSHA discovered that BP had failed to correct many items in the agreement, which resulted in 270 failure-to-abate notices and in BP agreeing to pay a penalty of $50.6 million to resolve the notices. In addition, OSHA cited BP for 439 willful violations of the agency’s PSM standard. The new citations carried $30.7 million in proposed penalties.

“Make no mistake, the scope of this [new] agreement should send a clear signal that OSHA is committed to ensuring BP takes seriously the safety and health of America’s most important natural resource – its workers,” stated Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.