Document G6kEErBp0yDpKzNBRDDOEbDVm

TO: Safety Directors r\oA^ FROM: DATE: Interoffice Communication SUBJ: T. G. Grumbles April 3, 1986 OSHA REQUIRED RECORDKEEPING VISTA Enclosed is an article describing a 1.3 million dollar fine assessed to Union Carbide for 221 OSHA violations. It is known that many of the citations were for recordkeeping violations such as incomplete OSHA Form 200's. Regardless of the resolution of the review our OSHA accuracy. specifics of this inspection or the ultimate fine assessed, it is recommended that we all required recordkeeping for completeness and Thomas G. Grumbles ajo/8 cc Plant Managers R. D. Gamblin R. E. Lehmkuhl VVV 000017145 ,OSHA PlanstoFineCarbide$1.4Million Alleges Violations at West VirginiaPlant U.S. Agency Proposes Fine of $1.4 Million For Union Carbide By Cathy Trost Slaff Reporter ofThk Wall Street Journal WASHINGTON - The Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed a $1.4 million fine, the biggest penalty in its history, against Union Carbide Corp. for 221 alleged health and safety violations at its Institute. W. Va.. plant. Labor Secretary William Brock said that an extensive six-month inspection of the plant showed a "situation character ized by complacency and what we believe to be a willful disregard for health and safety." 5. Mr. Brock said he referred the case to the Justice Department. A spokesman for the department said the agency would re view alleged violations of record keeping rules involving injuries and illnesses to de termine whether there were any criminal violations of federal law prohibiting lalse statements to the government. "What we will have to look at is whether the records were willfully improperly kept," the spokesman said. Among an array of problems, inspec tors found "employees without respirators being asked to detect the presence ol Jeadly gas by sniffing the air after alarms indicated a leak," the labor secretary said. 'We used to use'eanaries for that." Continued From Page necessary to protect American workers." Athough he said there was no reason to Mr. Brock said inspectors found "very serious problems" with the plant's safety suspect that such conduct was widespread In the chemical industry, Mr. Brock said systems. Us record keeping, its safety and the job-safety agency, in a program begun health programs and its safely manage several months ago, is targeting chemical ment systems. "We were just surprised to companies involved with high-hazard sub find conscious, overt, willful violations on stances for comprehensive inspections. such a widespread basis." he added. "We will be looking at this industry with a Union Carbide, based in Danbury, great deal of depth," he said. Conn., vowed to appeal the proposed fine through OSHA's administrative review process. Robert D. Kennedy, president. said. "OSHA has grossly distorted the ac- lual safety conditions and attitudes in the plant." After an Institute accident last August. Union Carbide said it would undertake a multimiJlion-doilar program to improve safety at Institute and Us other chemical jj In the Union Carbide case, OSHA cited I 3 the company for allegedly failing to pro vide respiratory protection to certain em ployees exposed to phosgene, which the j ; agency called "an extremely deadly gas." The agency specifically noted that an em ployee "was required to determine the source of phosgene gas leaks by sense of smell." Citations were also issued for alleged factories. Mr. Kennedy, who at that time deficiencies in record keeping on injuries headed Carbide's chemical and plastic unit, was given a major role in that pro gram. Mr. Kennedy said that "there is no Jus tification for citing Union Carbide for any willful violation." He added, "the allega tion of complacency with respect to safety is an outrageous misrepresentation of the truth." He added that the concern's methyl isocyanate unit was "given a clean bill of health" by the government agency. and on cases of asbestosis, an asbestos-re lated Illness. The agency said 128 cases of injuries weren't recorded during a three- year period. " '-i These deficiencies were described as ``willful" violations, in which the employer either knew that actions constituted a vio lation or was aware that a hazardous con dition existed and made no reasonable ef fort to eliminate it. He said the company was "keenly dis The agency said thecompany failed to appointed that OSHA has elected to take a record on OSHA injury and iilness logs confrontational view" of the Investigation. worker injuries that resulted In lost work Union Carbide had fully cooperated with days, restricted work activity and medical the investigation, he said. treatment. They included fractures, Focus of Attention sprains, back Injuries, hernias, abrasions, contusions and chemical inhalations. Last September, OSHA dispatched sev Consequently, the agency said, "little if eral teams of specialists to conduct a any progress has been made over the last "wall-to-wall" inspection of the Institute three years m improving plant injury and plant after the toxic chemical aidicarb ox illness rates, largely because record keep ime leaked there last summer, injuring ing violations make the company s goal about 140 people. The plant earlier had setting and corrective action programs been the focus of attention and inspections meaningless." after a leak at a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal. India, killed more than 2.000 peo- j Other Charges pie in December 1984. j A separate group of serious violations The Institute plant also makes methyl | isocyanate, the chemical released in the j Bhopal disaster. But Mr. Brock said there j were "virtually no problems with that seg- 1 ment of .the plant." j charged by OSHA involved the company's ability to detect chemical leaks and to pre vent or control major releases, its failure to provide adequate backup systems in the event of major chemical spills or releases, The agency's aggressive action drew ] potential hazards of fire and explosion, po plaudits from critics who believe the Rea tential exposures of employees to highly gan administration has retreated from tough enforcement of worker health and safely laws. Sen. Howard Metzenbaum toxic materials, and others. The agency said that the plant's safety management system is inadequate and ID.. Uhioi said he hopes "this indicates a that the company's effectiveness in pre change of heart after six years of neglect." venting "catastrophic chemical releases" And Margaret Seminario. an AFL-CIO health and safety official, said it "clearly is impaired by deficient equipment design and selection, failure to Install or maintain marks a change in policy by the Reagan early warning devices in critical arnis and administration." Taking a Hard Line The labor secretary reiterated the ad ministration's policy of seeking a "reason able. balanced approach" to workplace safety. But in a news conference, he took a hard line against employers who "bla tantly or repeatedly violate the safeguards Plrase Turn to Page li. Column i inaccurate maintenance records. Atnnmr chemical inriuerrv facilitiex Mr Brock said "this plant appears to be far worse than others." But he played down concerns about any immediate threat to the Institute area, saying "the fact that we have idemitled these problems is going to raise peoples' sensitivities." He described the company's attitude as "construc tive." Bhopal Talks A rescheduled K Wall Stkkkt Jouinal Hewn Rounttvp India's attorney general. K. Parasaran, is expected to arrive in the U.S. soon to re view the Bhopal gas disaster case with at torneys at Robins, Zelie, Larson & Kaplan, a Minneapolis law limn that represents In dia interests in the litigation. The meeting is expected to explore le gal action by India aimed at blocking dis tribution of proceeds from the pending sale of Union Carbide's consumer product units, said one source close to the case. Bruce Finzen. a Robins Zelie attorney, confirmed that the meeting is set for early next week. He said it was part of a "regu lar" review of the case, but declined to elaborate. Union Carbide has said that any pro ceeds from the sale of its consumer busi nesses m excess of the {1.1 billion book value will go to shareholders as a one-time dividend. Final bids by interested ac quirers of those units were made Friday, said a source familiar with the sale. Both the Indian government and private U.S. attorneys for individual disaster vic tims have said they might move to block the distribution of those assets on the ground that such a plan would deplete funds available to Bhopal victims. The le gal move would be an attempt to apply pressure on Carbide to raise its settlement offer, lawyers outside the case have said. Last week. Indian officials rejected a S350 million tentative settlement ol Bhopalrelated claims between Union Carbide and VVV 000017146