California
Announces Major Regulatory Proposal to Improve Worker Safety at Oil Refineries
Sacramento—The
Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), the Governor’s Office of Emergency
Services (Cal OES) and the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA)
today announced a landmark set of regulations to strengthen workplace and
environmental safety at oil refineries across the state.
The
regulatory proposals are intended to make California refineries safer both for
workers and surrounding communities. The two regulations implement key
recommendations of the Governor’s Interagency Working Group on Refinery Safety,
and are the result of a multi-year effort, including extensive consultation
with workers, industry, NGOs, and communities, following a serious chemical
release and fire at Chevron’s Richmond oil refinery in August 2012.
“The
proposed regulations will put into place new strategies to prevent major
incidents at refineries, and to protect refinery workers and surrounding
communities from exposure to health and safety risks,” said David M. Lanier,
Secretary of the Labor and Workforce Development Agency.
The
proposal includes two complementary regulations – one overhauling Cal/OSHA
worker safety regulations as they apply to refineries and another
strengthening the California
Accidental Release Prevention program (CalARP) regulations designed to
prevent the accidental release of hazardous substances that could harm public
health and the environment. DIR, Cal OES, and CalEPA have collaborated to
ensure that the two regulations are aligned.
“These
regulations will make refineries safer neighbors and employers. Refinery
workers, community and environmental organizations, and industry leaders worked
with us to develop requirements that are practical and effective,” said Matthew
Rodriquez, California Secretary for Environmental Protection.
The proposed regulations
incorporate the most advanced principles of safer engineering and management,
as well as attention to the human and organizational elements of safety. Key
features of the proposed regulations include:
·
Increased employer accountability for the
mechanical integrity of refinery equipment;
·
Requirements to adopt inherently safer
designs and systems, to the greatest extent feasible;
·
Increased employee involvement in all aspects
of the safety and prevention program;
·
Periodic workplace safety culture assessments
to evaluate whether management is appropriately emphasizing safety over
production pressures;
·
Authority for refinery personnel to shut down
a unit if needed in the event of an unsafe condition or emergency and
provisions for anonymous reporting of safety hazards;
·
Requirements for investigations to determine
root causes of any incidents that do occur and develop interim and permanent
corrective measures in response; and
·
Annual public reporting of refinery safety
metrics.
Major
incidents at oil and gas refineries pose a significant risk to refinery workers
and nearby communities while costing Californians an average of $800 million a
year in disruption to fuel supplies.
“The
proposed amendments to the California Process Safety Management program and
Accidental Release Prevention program are significant improvements that will
strengthen protections for workers, communities and the environment, based on
lessons learned and best practices,” said Vanessa Allen Sutherland, Chairperson
of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. “We look forward to seeing the final
regulations implemented, and we hope that they prove to be a model for
refinery worker protection and public safety for the rest of the country.”
Cal
OES and DIR’s Occupational Standards Board will provide a minimum of 45 days to
solicit comment on the proposed regulations. A public hearing on the Process
Safety Management regulation will be held in Sacramento
on September 15; a public hearing on the CalARP regulation has not
yet been scheduled.
Following
a serious chemical release and fire at Chevron’s Richmond
oil refinery in August 2012, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. called for an
Interagency Working Group to examine ways to improve public and worker safety
through enhanced oversight of refineries, and to strengthen emergency
preparedness in anticipation of any future incident. The Working Group
consisted of participants from 13 agencies and departments, as well as the
Governor’s office.
Over
an eight-month period, the Working Group met with industry, labor, community,
environmental, academic, local emergency response and other stakeholders. It
also worked closely with the Contra Costa County Health Services Hazardous
Materials Division, which implements an industrial safety ordinance that served
as a model for the proposed refinery safety regulations. In February 2014 the
Working Group issued a final report
with recommendations to improve safety practices at refineries and develop more
reliable and effective emergency response plans. The proposed regulations
implement one of four key recommendations of the final report.
California
now has an Interagency Refinery
Task Force, headed by CalEPA with participation from DIR, its division
Cal/OSHA, and 11 other federal, state, and local agencies and departments. The
task force works collaboratively to achieve the highest possible level of
safety for refinery workers and local communities, and prepare for and
effectively respond to emergencies if they occur.
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