BP And Osha Resolve Texas City Refinery Citations

BP Products North America Inc. (BP) said Thursday it has reached an agreement with the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to settle 409 of the 439 remaining citations issued to the BP Texas City Refinery in 2009.

“BP is committed to workplace safety. A strong relationship with OSHA is part of that commitment,” said Iain Conn, BP’s global head of Refining & Marketing. “We respect OSHA and have worked to address their concerns in this latest agreement. Our aim is to be a leader in process safety and we look forward to continuing our cooperation with OSHA to create an even safer workplace in BP and in our industry as a whole.”

As part of this agreement, BP will pay a civil penalty of $13 million. Excluded from the settlement are 30 citations that BP and OSHA will continue to discuss.

BP has made major improvements in safety and environmental compliance at the Texas City Refinery. The company spent more than $1 billion on safety and infrastructure improvements at the refinery between 2005 and 2009 and allocated another $500 million for activities specified in the 2010 settlement agreement. The work that BP has performed for the 2010 agreement has been verified by independent experts as well as OSHA to ensure consistent implementation and compliance with standards.

In addition to the investments in refurbishing and updating the refinery, BP partnered with the United Steel Workers (USW) to establish front line involvement in process safety management.

“BP shares the USW’s focus on worker safety and an injury-free workplace” said Steve Cornell, President of BP Products North America. “Today’s agreement represents another milestone in our commitment to safe and compliant operations.”