Critique of article

AFETY

OSHA FINES W E S T FERTILIZER $118,300 FORFXPLOSION THAT KILLED 15, INJURED 200

S en. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) on Oct. 10 announced that OSHA has cited the parent company of West Fertilizer Co. in West, Texas, for

24 violations of occupational health and safety regulations. Due to the government shutdown, OSHA was not able to release the results of its investigation of the April 17 West Fertilizer Co. fire and explosion that claimed 15 lives, injured 200, leveled the facility and devastated an entire town.

"I'm stepping in here so as a result of

my telling you these things, another ex- plosion could be prevented," Boxer said when announcing the results of OSHA's investigation.

The violations - which included unsafe handling and storing of chemicals includ- ing ammonium nitrate, failure to train and license forklift operators, inadequate re- lief valves, lack of fire extinguishers, lack of an emergency response plan and fail- ure to pressure test replacement hoses on chemical tanks - carry proposed penalties totaling $118,300. Not nearly enough, say some critics.

Tom O'Connor, executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, commented, "In issuing a strong fine against the parent company of the West, Texas, fertilizer storage facility ... OSHA sends a message that neglecting worker safety - particularly around the handling of highly toxic chemicals - will not be tolerated. But the West incident also

pointed to many direly needed reforms." According to O'Connor, the $118,300

fine OSHA levied against the storage facility "was significant," but when com- pared to the value of the lives of workers, responders and neighors who perished in the explosion, "it is paltry."

O'Connor said the Occupational Safety and Health Act must be amended to allow the agency to impose a fine greater than $7,000 for a serious safety violafion. "The agency must be able to issue fines that will truly act as a deterrent to unsafe working conditions," said O'Connor.

Boxer complained that OSHA is "woe- fully understaffed," and in fact, OSHA's staffing levels are such that invesfigators only can inspect a workplace once every 131 years, on average, though companies on the agency's targeted inspection list receive visits more regularly. OSHA had not inspected the fertilizer storage facility in West, Texas, since 1985.

KENNAMETAL RECOGNIZES SIX COMPANY PROJECTS WITH E H S EXCELLENCE AWARDS

L atrobe, Pa.-based Kennametal Inc.

is recognizing six company projects

for reducing ergonomie risk, cutting

energy consumption, strengthen-

ing safety training and making other EHS

improvements.

The company, which makes metalwork-

ing tools and mining and construction

equipment, noted that it received 56 nomi-

nations for its 12th annual Environmental,

Health and Safety Excellence Awards.

"Our Annual EHS Awards give us an

opportunity to applaud and honorteams

across our company fortheir tremendous

demonstration of leadership and their pas-

sion for keeping our employees, communi-

ties and environment safe," Kennametal

CEO Carlos Cardoso said.

The 2013 award winners fall into two cat-

egories: people and environment. They are:

• Kennametal's Tianjin, China, facility

(Presidential Award for 100 Percent Safe

People), which is being recognized for its

implementation of a safety onboarding pro-

gram that consists of an introduction to the

company's management-based safety pro-

cess and is followed by a series of exams

to ensure that all new hires understand

Kennametal's safety initiatives.

•Kennametal's Bangalore, India,facility

(Presidential Award for 100 Percent Safe

Environment), which improved its milling

process by implementing alternative water-

based solutions.

• Kennametal's Victoria, British Columbia,

facility (first place, 100 Percent Safe People

Award), which launched an aggressive

ergonomic-risk program to prevent strain

injuries. The site-specific program offers

workshops on strain prevention, reference

guides to safe work practices and job-spe-

cific stretching tips to help prevent injury.

• Kennametal's Victoria, British Colum-

bia, facility (first place, 100 Percent Safe

Environment Award), which updated its . - ^ " ' - - - ~~'

lighting fixtures,

resulting in energy

savings of more than

$24,000 per year and more than $53,000 in

energy rebates and incentives from the lo-

cal power provider: ;:

•Kennametal's Rogers, Ark., facility

(second place, 100 Percent Safe People

Award), which was able to reduce the

risks of manual welding by implementing „

a robotic welding machine. The machine

significantly decreased ergonomie risks

among workers and increased the quality

output of welds.

• Kennametal's Xuzhou, China, facility

(second place, 100 Percent Safe Environ-

ment Award), which significantly reduced

energy consumption by replacing its exist-

ing cooling tower with a newly designed ^

automatic cooling system.

EHSToday I NOVEMBER 2013 I WWW.EHSTODAY.COM

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