It took two days for the fire to cool down enough to allow inspection following a devastating explosion at the Phillips Petroleum Company’s chemical plant in Houston in 1999.
When industry officials entered they were met with a shocking sight: embedded in a cooling tower across the burnt processing unit, was a propeller half the size of a house.
“It was a devastating explosion,” said Jim Lefton, a Texas based United Steelworkers (USW) representative who has serviced most of the big oil companies over the years. Changes in the processing system and the wrong sized relief valve were identified as contributors to that explosion, which killed two contractors and three workers.
The Occupational and Safety Health Administration (OSHA) followed up with an inquiry, allocated a fine to the company of a little over $200,000 and contributed to a report recommending specific safety improvements.
The company “flat out rejected” the recommendations, Lefton said.
One year later another devastating explosion occurred in the same Houston company—same chemical complex, same issues. This time one person died, and 71 were injured.
“One of the people who was injured was on our Health and Safety Committee,” said Lefton. “He was burned to over 75 percent of his body.” To this day that man is unable to bear sunlight on his skin.
It has been 11 years since that fatal accident but the USW says the same cowboy attitude to safety in the petrochemical industry remains. This time, however, the stakes are higher.
