Barrow Agrees with Unions: Temporary Changes Needed in OSHA Procedures

9/24/2009 2:30:00 PM

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Barrow Agrees with Unions: Temporary Changes Needed in OSHA Procedures

SBJ Staff Report

Sept. 25, 2009 UPDATED 8:00 a.m.. - The US Chemical Safety Board traveled to Savannah Thursday to release its preliminary report on the Feb, 7, 2008 explosion at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth. (See related story.)

A Thursday morning press conference was held before a Thursday evening public session and vote by the CSB on Thursday night.

Unions representing food processing employees in manufacturing plants around the U.S., including a number of Imperial Sugar and Domino Sugar workers immediately charged that the CSB had failed workers by not calling for "immediate, emergency changes in OSHA procedures to protect workers," according to Evan Yeats, spokesperson for the UFCW - United Food and Commercial Workers International - which presents workers in U.S. and Canadian food processing plants.

And Congressman John Barrow (D), who represents Savannah and Port Wentworth, also released a statement Thursday, saying that "Given the continued threat of combustible dust explosions and fires, this report makes clear why we need a temporary standard to prevent tragedies like the one we had at Imperial Sugar. I commend the Department of Labor for the steps they've taken to get permanent rules governing combustible dust on the books, but the hard reality is that it could be years at best before those regulations are in place. Meanwhile, the risk of another combustible dust explosion or fire still exists. It's clear that we need to move forward on the bill that Congressman Miller and I reintroduced this year to get an emergency temporary standard in place as soon as possible. People's lives are at stake, and we can't afford the time it will take for a permanent standard to work its way through the bureaucracy for things to change. I hope that Georgia's senators will join me in making sure that our bill gets passed by both chambers of Congress and signed into law as quickly as possible. If we can prevent another community from going through what we did, we must."

But Thursday night, Isakson and Chambliss issued a joint statement, refusing to join Barrow in a call for "immediate, temporary action." The statement said: "We believe it is imperative that OSHA and general industry take the lessons learned from the Port Wentworth disaster to prevent future tragedies. The best available science, the experience of stakeholders and the notice-and-comment process are all critical components of formulating effective regulations. We concur with Chairman Breslan of the Chemical Safety Board that emergency temporary standards seldom withstand court scrutiny. Moreover, these temporary rules only add confusion to the regulatory process. We will continue to urge Secretary Solis to promulgate effective permanent standards as expeditiously as possible."

But Barrow contends that a bill requiring certain specific changes would hold up to court challenges by companies fined by OSHA.

CSB Chairman John Bresland, who spoke about his serious frustration with the lack of action by OSHA on his board's many recommended changes in OSHA regulations, said Thursday night, "Perhaps a bill would hold up. It's never been tested. What has not held up to court challenge is temporary changes to OSHA regulations."

A union representative present Thursday night said, "You realize this is all just a public relations event, right?" The UFCW is particularly disappointed in the CSB's report that calls for trade associations of various manufacturers to police themselves.

"It represents no protection for workers. Since their last report last December, we have called on the CSB to insist that OSHA implement immediate, temporary measures to address this. They did not. The process of changing OSHA regulations takes years. The last time they did it in the '70s, it took 10 years," said Evan Yeats of the UFCW.

The CSB report urged Imperial Sugar to comply with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommended practices for preventing dust fires and explosions, develop dust training and housekeeping programs and improve its evacuation procedures.

The report also called on industry groups AIB International and the American Bakers Association to develop combustible dust training and auditing materials. Imperial's insurer, Zurich Services, and an insurance industry trade association should improve their insurance audit procedures for dust hazards and share their dust hazard training materials with clients, CSB investigators concluded.

"Do you know who AIB International is?" asked Yeats. "They are the industry group that gave the Georgia peanut plant an outstanding report card."

The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. The agency's board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in safety regulations, codes, standards, management systems, training and industry practices.

The board does not issue citations or fines but does make safety recommendations to plants, industry organizations, labor groups and regulatory agencies such as OSHA and EPA.

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