Letter: Support needed for bill to protect workers

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July 31, 2010

Robert B. Hollis The Port Arthur News The Port Arthur News Sat Jul 31, 2010, 12:22 PM CDT

ORANGE — The oil industry toll for April-May 2010 has been 13 fires, 19 deaths and 25 injuries. This is a good indicator that the oil industry is lax on health and safety, whether it is refineries or offshore platforms.

The oil industry seems to accept loss of life as a cost of doing business. When companies weigh decisions against profit margins, safety decisions will be made the same way. Safety is always sacrificed in the push for production.

Working men and women should not be subjected to conditions that have become more hazardous due to management’s decisions that place profit over safety.

I am a refinery worker at the Valero Port Arthur Refinery and a member of the United Steelworkers Union, Local No. 13-423. When equipment fails at a facility and is not repaired, management uses a phrase they call “Risk Management.” This tells employees the company is willing to risk their lives and those in the surrounding community to maintain production and profit.

Voluntary safety standards created by the oil industry do not work. Now is the time to strengthen the Occupational Safety and Health Acts (OSHA) enforcement capabilities. On way is by supporting passage of the Protecting America’s Worker’s Act. (House Bill 2067, Senate Bill 1580.)

Oil companies will not change their inadequate attitudes toward safety until the penalty for injury or killing workers becomes greater.

Robert B. Hollis

Orange

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Letter: Support needed for bill to protect workers

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