Heavy equipment being moved into the Valero St. Charles
Refinery in Norco on May 23, 2012. (Brett Duke / NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
MARCH 18, 2015
NORCO, LOUISIANA
An investigation is underway at the Valero St. Charles oil
refinery in Norco after a contract worker collapsed on the job and died. The
cause of his death has not been determined, his employer said.
The man was working March 17 when he became unresponsive
around 3:30 p.m., said A.J. Rodriguez, a spokesman for his employer, JVIC of
Houston. He was taken to St. Charles Parish Hospital in Luling and died the
next day at 2:30 p.m.
"We don't know the cause of death," said
Rodriguez, who would not identify the man. "I'm not sure if the
investigation will determine that. We'll see what the conclusions are."
JVIC is an industrial maintenance company that provides
specialty services to the process industry. It investigating along with Valero
and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, he said. A Valero representative
referred questions to JVIC. An OSHA spokesperson did not immediately respond to
questions Thursday.
Rodriguez described the death as an "isolated
incident" that didn't involve any plant-related operations or other
employees. He would not say what type of work the man was hired to do or what
the man was doing at the time of the collapse.
"It was just with that one individual," Rodriguez
said. "There was no operational or mechanical (work) related to the
incident itself."
Rodriguez said the company's policy is not to release the
man's identity "out of respect for his family." He said the man was
not from Louisiana, but he would not provide the man's age or say how long the
man had worked for JVIC.
He said the investigation is expected to wrap up next month.
More information could be released then.