BP Hit with Largest-Ever OSHA Fine of $87 Million
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis announced today the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has levied the largest fine in its history—$87.4 million—against BP for failing to correct safety problems identified after a 2005 explosion that killed 15 workers at its Texas City, Texas, refinery.
In a telephone press conference this morning, Solis said the fines are the result of BP’s failure to comply in hundreds of instances with a 2005 agreement to fix safety hazards at the refinery.
Solis said the fines represent the Obama Labor Department’s commitment to maintain safe workplaces:
Let me be clear. This administration will not tolerate disregard of our laws. Employers have a legal and moral responsibility to protect their workers who ultimately are America’s most important assets. The laws are designed to level the playing field for all businesses and ensure that workers in any economic climate are kept out of harm’s way.
Labor Secretary to Honor Fallen Workers on Workers Memorial Day
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Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, who has made worker safety and health a priority, will join workers, union leaders, elected officials and college staff to commemorate Workers Memorial Day by helping break ground for a new national workers memorial at the National Labor College (NLC) campus in Silver Spring, Md.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka, Mine Workers (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts and NLC President William Scheuerman will Join Solis at the ceremony. The public also is invited to attend.
The April 28 ceremony will be followed by a traditional candle-lighting ceremony and honoring of all fallen workers. Workers Memorial Day, April 28, is the day workers in the United States and around the world honor those killed and injured on the job and call for improved workplace safety.
Jordan Barab Named Acting OSHA Chief
Health and safety activist Jordan Barab was appointed today as the acting head of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Barab, a senior policy adviser for the House Education and Labor Committee, is well-known as a strong advocate for health and safety in the workplace.
Barab will lead the agency until a permanent director is chosen and then will become OSHA’s deputy assistant secretary on a permanent basis.
Peg Seminario, the AFL-CIO’s director for safety and health, says Barab is an “excellent choice” for OSHA deputy assistant secretary.
He has decades of experience in safety and health working in the labor movement, at OSHA and in the House of Representatives on a broad range of issues. He has a deep commitment and dedication to protecting workers and will bring to OSHA the kind of energy and leadership that is sorely needed to move the agency in a new direction.
