Document Lp9KY1woqJY8X75BwZLb2bK8g

HEALTH & SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES January 3, 1991 AGENDA 1. This month's Audit Area Manager(s) 2. Unit Audit(s) UNIT AUDIT(s) Area Audit Date Response Due = Received Alkylation/Thermal Cracking Major Resins North/West Warehouses Central Maintenance 11/01/91 12/06/91 12/06/91 01/03/91 01/01/92 02/06/92 02/06/92 03/03/91 01/06/92 ITEM # OLD BUSINESS: (Status reviewed in December 6 meeting) 1-12/91; Are the grinders in the Field Zone Shops on an Audit Program? If so, who does this audit? Action: C. W. Vasek, H&S (Pending Completion) Response: Currently, the BA's have responsibility to maintain the grinders. H&S has developed a grinder inspection sheet that is being used in the Central Shops and was also issued to BA area Safety Inspectors to implement in their areas of assignment. Implementation throughout the complex is still on-going. Field audits are being conducted and BA area Safety Inspectors are auditing these forms. 2-6/91: There is a concern about ladder inspections not being done. Also, metal ladders are being brought into the Complex by contractors to the sub-stations. Action: Smokey Mathers, Carpenter Shop (Action Complete) Response: A study group has looked at the program and determined we are not in compliance. The study group (Randy Sapp is team leader) is in its final stages of completion. The new ladder order (M-114) will cover concerns about inspection and tagging. Maintenance is in the final process of implementing Maintenance Order M-114 (Portable Ladders) which addresses inspections, tagging, and use of ladders. Maintenance Order (M-114) Portable Ladders issued January 1, 1992. 3-6/91: There has been a report that during Chemical safety meetings if safety items which are not on the agenda, are not allowed to be brought up for discussion. Safety issues should be brought to management's attention immediately. [7/5/91] It was determined that this issue still needs to be worked on. 2 DPMC-09610 LAM 003509 Action: W. M. Boaze, Safety Inspector/Ed Koch (Fending Completion) Response: If there is a safety concern, it should be brought up immediately to management's attention. One should not wait until there Is a safety meeting. Items discussed at a meeting should follow the agenda. If there is still a question on a safety issue, contact your foreman or supervisor after the meeting. E. H. Hawthorne & S. Smith will visit with Maintenance management and discuss this item. 4- 7/91: BA's are inconsistent with policy on when electricians working on 440 can work alone or require a buddy. New safety order w/revised guidelines are being presented to HSMT. These guidelines identify what jobs should be performed with two people. Also, when a motor trips, re-energization should not be done unless you have identified the problem (per OSHA). What is the current policy on starting breakers? Action: S. Breaux/D. Martin (Pending Completion) Response: Many of the Electrical Safe Work Practices issues are currently being worked by Head Office Electrical. When these issues have been resolved and the final guidance is provided, the DPMC requirements will be finalized. Completion scheduled by 1st quarter of 1992. Major issue is procedure for restarting tripped breakers. 5- 8/91: The 0P2 truck loading rack has an inline-drips drum that is used to catch any liquid before it goes to vent. At one time, the drum had a level indicator which is not missing. How is the liquid level controlled without an indicator? [9-9/91] OP2 vent line @ truck loading rack still pressures up and vents to air. This concern was brought up in previous H&S meetings and was to have been resolved. Action: Kenney Moore (Follow-up on project status - Pending Completion) Response: The inline-drips drum was installed temporarily until the source of vent liquid was determined. It was determined there was a faulty spring-loaded valve in the vent line which has been replaced. After further evaluation, it has been determined that the drum is not necessary and has been removed. A project has been initiated to modify the vent handling. 6- 10/91: Several months ago, when new conduit was installed at a pump shed @ HDUI, the old transite conduit began crumbling. At that time, Industrial Hygiene notified the area to remove the transite conduit. This removal has not been done. Action: Bill White, SOM-Aromatics (Additional follow-up Pending Completion) Lynne Tackett/Mike Cunningham Response: MUTS ticket issued to remove transite where 3 DPMC-09R11 LAM 003510 practical and cover areas that were identified by using approved sealing procedures. 7- 12/91: Overtime lunches are being delivered cold. Is there a health concern? Action: Eddy Melton, ARA Services (Action Complete) Response: ARA Services has recently changed the system for delivered meals. The change was brought about to provide hot meals on a timely basis. The primarydifference between the new system and the old system is much shorter routes for the drivers. In the past, a route consisted of 12-15 stops. Under the new system, a route has 4-5stops. This does not allow the food to get cold on the truck. Another change is when ARA plates the food. Previously, a meal that was plated at 10:30 am might not be delivered until 12:15. The new system has a meal plated at 10:30 am leaving the door at 10:35 am and to be delivered within 15 minutes. This does not allow the meal to cool before it leaves the South Cafeterial. The new system has as many as 8-9 routes for a meal period as opposed to 2-3. 8- 12/9l: Are all inplant vehicles inspected "road ready" even if they are not driven outside the Complex? Action: Steve Bailey, Automotive Supervisor (Action Complete) Response: The "in-plant only" vehicles receive the same inspection and service that the "over the road" vehicles do. This entails a bumper-to-bumper inspection every time the vehicle comes in for preventative maintenance. The only things that are not the same is that the "in-plant" vehicles do not get the headlights adjusted with the headlight machine, the emission test for C02 with the litmus paper, or receive the state inspection sticker and license plate sticker. AGENDA ITEMS: 1. Joe Gandolfo, Manager Central Maintenance, made a presentation to the committee. He gave an overview of 1991 activities, manpower increase, training programs, and their safety program. 2. Donna Fondaw, Purchasing Representative for the FRC Program and the Cintas Representative attended the meeting for a question/answer session. 3. EMH gave an update on the following: a. 1991 Safety Performance @ DPMC b. MTP presentation to HSMT - FRII form and procedures being revised c. EPA visit d. Benzene spill - F360 (Dispatching Operations) 4 DPMC-09612 i am nmfiii e. Vehicle fire @ DU2 f. Exchange head fire @ DU2 g. Union Carbide Seadrift plant citation (Attachment) 4. Committee audited Central Maintenance. C. W. Vasek Attachments 5 DPMC-09613 LAM 003512 INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM DECEMBER 30, 1991 FROM: MANAGER, PRODUCTS HEALTH & SAFETY TO: SEE ATTACHED DISTRIBUTION LIST SUBJECT: INFORMATION REGARDING OSHA AND UNION CARBIDE'S SEADRIFT PLANT The attached articles are for your information. W. L. Heitz WLH:bjd Attachment BJT9136403 - 0001.0.0 DPMC-09614 LAM 003513 DISTRIBUTION LIST MANUFACTURING LOCATIONS ANACORTES REFINERY MANAGER, HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT BELPRE PLANT MANAGER, HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT DEER PARK MANUFACTURING COMPLEX MANAGER, HEALTH AND SAFETY GEISMAR PLANT MANAGER, HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT MARTINEZ MANUFACTURING COMPLEX MANAGER, HEALTH AND SAFETY NORCO MANUFACTURING COMPLEX MANAGER, HEALTH AND SAFETY ODESSA REFINERY MANAGER, HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT TAFT PLANT SR73AFETY REPRESENTATIVE WILMINGTON MANUFACTURING COMPLEX MANAGER, HEALTH AND SAFETY WOOD RIVER MANUFACTURING COMPLEX MANAGER, HEALTH AND SAFETY R.1T9136403 - 0002.0.0 DPMC-09615 LAM 003514 1-.. Following the March 12 blast, !> .'`shrapnel barely missed toe tanks/ which would have caused a fire and >> explosion there and the possible loss X of the entire'plant. Including a tre:;|>mendous loss of life," toe OSHA ^`yeport said. . :-aUeged OSHAjcriticizes" Union Carbide : j~. i --.--.-- By DAVID IVANOVICH Houston Chronicle *Z Managers. at Union Carbide's Seadrift plant knew for 20 years that 'YZ some chemical storage tanks were relocated dangerously close to acKem- 5ca[react.Qr but failed to move them, federal regulators'haveldleged. : * v*' :.Inspectors for .the .Occupational Safety and Health' Administration ri learned, of. the safety hazard while ^ investigating :an explosibh'at ` the *' ^Seadrift plant that killed one con- ;>'/ OSHA officials refused to discuss the report, saying they, could not .. discuss a report that had not been 'i released publicly. Dave Goris, plant ;a manager at the Seadrift facility, said I-:, plant officials consider the allegalions of violations unfounded. .' ^`-`"We believewe're In full compliance with toe OSHA regulations... i; and we're contesting all citations," .';-'he said. Goris declined to discuss most of toe specifics of toe report, saying he had not seen it : ............ y. OSHA investigators had inspected the Seadriftplant on seven previous y. occasions, and Goris pointed out that v toe plant had never received a cita- Yi tion.- . - ` t; But Jim .Blackburn, ;.a .Houston |`/environmental attorney representK' ing local residents_ who claim a yellow-and-gray cloud emitted from toe plant caused them health'prob-' i - lems, called Union Carbide's actions ^ery difficult to excuse."iT2`i:'^ port issued in'June.;.. .................... i-* /.The lapse was one of the main reasons the agency .was seeking a *v- $2.8 million penalty against Union * `ilploded.' The blast Igniteda'fire 'and - v threw large piecesxf shrapnel toe -r.'Jsize' of vehiclesinto toe" air. pS,#. Workers tryirig^tp escape found 1 some exits locked,'forcing toem'to > jdimb over a fence,' OSHA inyestigaX tors said. Inadequate water pressure .npAiienfA/t '" t*t** * ; "I was really disgusted, more than '* anything, that a company like Union Carbide wouldn't take care of probJ^le ms. Atht---e---y- - iMde.Jnntifnie.diw,"/aBrlna.c'.ki.bi.u----r--n? | y } r^2.USHA ihvestigatorslaisb"insisted ??Jhat employees' participating in .toe llMnvestigation. had been intimidated Jpby company representatives, a claim 1:s-: Goris vehemently denies. s'g jhvnT: c 5i The Teactor.'was jonly about 150 ivfteet from a group of 13'tanks'con-! ;> gaining 288,051 poanis'jbf liquid eth|r: ylene oxide,"ari extremely'flamma-' r: ile and poisonous material equivai?l Hent to 58 tons of TNT, the report 1 j: \;1 Ethylene oxide ln this location .'V. ' !'*' is like a bomb waiting to be deto|I;i pated," the OSHA report said.'*'. J-.;. 3 Pour company .audits'dating to ! ' W7T bad recommended that plant i;-' officials move^he_|torage.tanks to avoid a potential calamity, the re.port said. But rather than move .the j-Ktanks,'plant officials opted to'limit vvjhe amount of ethylene oxide permitl\ ted to be stored there to 950,000 :> pounds, which OSHA officials said _was equivalent to 190 tons of TNT. DPMC-09616 LAM 003515 DEC 2 7 1991 Report on blast slams Union Carbide OSHA dtes 20 years. of safety violations 01991. The Houston Post Co. By Kate Thomas OF THE HOUSTON POST STAFF Union Carbide Corp.'s Seadrift plant, site. of a deadly accident last March, ignored internal safety rec ommendations for 20 years and exposed employees.to hazards that "were likely to cause death or sen- ous physical harm," according to a government document obtained by The Houston Post ; * The allegations are'contained in an internal Occupational Safety and Health Administration report on the fire and explosion that killed one worker and injured 32 others March 12, -1991, at the remote South Texas petrochemical facility. The results of the June 28,1991, OSHA report prompted the gov ernment in September to seek $2.8 million in fines from Union Carbide for safety violations, including doz ens of alleged "willful" violations. OSHA investigators also com plained that`Union Carbide`may have intimidated employees jnto not signing statements about the accident which hurled shrapnel -- some nearly as big' as a "vehicle" -- throughoutJtoe_facility,-de stroyed a critical control building, damaged others and rocked the surrounding countryside. ' Union Carbide officials ` weren't available for comment on the re port Tuesday or Thursday, but Union Carbide chairman Robert Kennedy has said the company in tends to "vigorously contest" the citations. A Union Carbide employ ee earlier told The Post he wasn't coached by the company. Fred Millar, director of^ the chemical safety project for Friends of the Earth, called the OSHA re port "stunning." adding it "de serves an enormous amount of congressional attention." He said it demonstrated the public'needs ac cess to companies' internal safety audits. - Citing Union Carbide's decision i to contest the fines, OSHA's Dallas regional administrator Gilbert J. Saulter declined to discuss the fol lowing findings: - At about 1:18 a.m. March 12, an explosion ocarrred in the No. 1 ; Oxide Unit, only 150 feet from an ethylene-oxide tank -farm' where -, the equivalent of 58 tons of TNT. was stored. Shrapnel, which barely missed the tanks, broke some fire ! water lines, the report said. : . ; OSHA said it found internal doc- uments showing Union Carbide Failure to insulate vessels con taining high percentages of ethyl ene oxide and to install instru-ments capable of delecting spot healing and potential insulation fires constituted a "flagrant'' safety ' violation, said government investi gators. ' v. Knowledge of a potential hazard existed and a means of abatement was known but no action was tak en, OSHA alleged. The company could produce no records documenting when the last time a critical temperature trans mitter was last calibrated, OSHA said. Government investigators said they suspected the -sensitive instrument hadn't been checked Corp. auditors had informed the Seadrift facility's_ management of for accuracy since it was put into operation in October 1988. the potential hazard posed by the the tank farm's location in 1971, 1978,1986 and 1989. Rather than relocating the tank farm, OSHA investigators said, plant management responded by reducing the amount of inventory, stored in the tanks. Moving the ex-4 plosive material to a more remote 1 (ocation was ruled out as too costly; . according to OSHA. ; -. r "The 'bomb' hazard still existed fn the tank farm at the time of the - pcplosion," the report found. Despite repeated internal warnings, Seadrift- management failed to locate the Oxide Control Compounding the problem, nvestigators found the plant had three locked exits, no alarm wasever sounded, water pressure was too low to fight the fire for over an hour and the event occurred at night when employees could not see where they were going. -Operators didn't have pre- and post-startup checklists to follow to ensure that procedures were con sistent ..Government investigators - also said they found two valves were ..dosed, preventing cooling water .from reaching a condenser. March II. fpuilding a safe distance from po Union Carbide's law firm ini tentially explosive process equip tially insisted upon having one of ment and failed to make it blast their "hand-picked, company-ori fesistant, according to the report ented employees witness each and ! During the March 12 blast, a jbad-bearing wall in the control every interview,",.OSHA; com plained. The govemment;.safety toom collapsed, light fixtures and watchdog said it took about two air conditioning ducts fell from the weeks to obtain private interviews telling and the: roof almost col- with employees. '- - japsed. _ ............... . "The employer took absolutely no action to prevent these events from happening prior to the explo sive loading on March 12, 1991," investigators said. Even then, according to the re port, company lawyers spent an hour before and after each inter view briefing and debriefing em ployees. . DPMC-0.9R17 LAM 003516 Tho Houston Post DEC 2 7 1991 Fearing intimidation. OSHA said the agency mailed copies of the employee's statements to their homes for their signatures. But few were willing to sign. . "OSHA was unable to directly _ establish this as a fact," the report ` says, "but employees were very nervous when asked to sign per sonal statements. All employees regardless did attest verbally to the validity of their statements after having read them." One employee said "it would be wonderful" if government officials would come in before catastrophes occur. But they come in afterward after "everybody has gone through .a trauma:'They kept insinuating the company was opposing the. I ` was not coached to say .anything, jrfie Hud-'-V-r'. ` uy\'- .. . .Attorneys representing Union Carbide could not be reached for comment Thursday/-- - Prior to the blast, the Seadrift plant was one of 35 chemical plants in the United States present ed Star Awards by OSHA under the Voluntary Protection Program for its exemplary safety record and in 1989 the plant was named the saf est in the Texas by the Texas In-', dustry Chemical Council. ` The OSHA investigative report, which has not been made , public, commended the Seadrift plant for an "excellent" -written health and safety program, but said many ba sic safety concerns were not ad dressed in actual application. A.worker who was in the control. room at the time of the explosion' told The H -.uston Post "it was just like a bomb exploding. All of a sud den the vaa was blown in on us. We starU-c out .the .doors. The doors were jammed. We went out the wall toward the fire.:We ! crawled over the rubble." Citing Union Carbide's "signifi cant enforcement history," OSHA said the proposed fines were in tended to.make a"significant im.pact" on" the Danbury, Conn,- . based firm and "other manufacturers of chemicals nation wide," the report said. A Union Carbide pesticide plant exploded in 1984 in Bhopal, India, killing more than 3,000 people and injuring thousands more. In 1986, OSHA fined Union Carbide's plant in Institute, W. Va., $1.4 million for "willful" safety and recordkeeping violations. . "When you think about Bhopal and West Virginia, you would think they would be out in front on safety issues," said Jim Blackburn, a Houston environmental attorney who is working with the Calhoun County Resource Watdi.. .;. ."It's one thing to make a'mistake. When they (mistakes) have been identified and not acted bn, that's when it really become seri ous. It's that type of mentality, that refusal to comet, that destroys the credibility of the industry." . ` Blackburn said he was especially disturbed by the suggestion that Union Carbide may . have./tried to influence the investigation of Jthe. Seadrift tragedy. . V. The Seadrift plant annually pro duces about 820 million pounds of ethylene .oxide, a highly reactive and unstable substanre with "cata strophic" explosive potential, ac cording to.OSHA.'iX-v ' * <r LAM 003517 DPMC-09618 HEALTH & SAFETY COMMITTEE AUDIT JANUARY 3/ 1992 ************************************************************* P*L*E*A*S*E**R*E*T*U*R*N**R**ES*P*O**N*SE**W**I*T*H*IN**T*W*O***(2*)**M*O**N*TH*S**O**F**IN**IT*I*A*L**A**U*D*IT* CENTRAL SHOP 1. NOTE: Sometimes big trucks getting loaded or unloaded, don't turn off engines and shop accumulates exhaust fumed. Forklifts also. 2. Broken light fixtures: much improved from the past. 3. Have had complaints that dust is thick on flat surfaces overhead - its bad when disturbed. 4. Sandblaster in Inst. Shop leaks around doors - needs to be fixed or possibly even put outside. 5. A lot of dust around sandblasting machine - has machine been checked for leaks while in operation? 6. Consider re-stripping yellow areas. 7. Consider painting crane hooks/chains with florescent paint. 8. Overhead crane inspections up to date - Good job. 9. Oil spill near tube bundle area needs cleaning. 10. Torch (tube bundle area) not in use, should be on retractable reel. 11. All face shields on grinders - Good job. 12. Lock out tag missing on disconnect switch mounted near Sub 36. 13. Suggest locating grating near Sub 36 in storage rack - present grating on floor, (tripping hazard) 14. Sling located on floor near water bottles needs to be properly stored. 15. Areas well lighted - Good job! 16. Overall housekeeping good! 17. Rest room window (locker room) needs repair. LAM 003518 DPMC-09619 18. Consider replacing towel/hard hat rack in Mens rest room - fabricated with 2x4 and nails for hooks. Easy to fall up against rack and come in contact with nails. 19. Roof in locker room needs ATTENTION. 20. Floor in Supervisor's store room needs minor work. SOUTH PORTION OF NORTH SHOP 1. Craftsman commented on needing to push the project to move the jib crane (from the Inst, area) over to the electric side for handling of vertical motors. 2. Noticed old lead pot that hasn't been used recently with trash in it. Need to demo and remove if not needed. Need to rewire and keep trash and debris out of it if needed. Located in electrical area. Removed trash from pot. 3. Fire extinguisher in front of Machine Shop office missing plastic seal. Checked extinguisher and it is in working order. 4. Craftsman commented that the electrical loading for entire North Shop is nearing overload with occasional breaker trips. Lots of equipment added. A new electrical feed is being run but may need to redistribute power. 5. Overall, housekeeping was well done. ACID VAT AREA 1. N^W corner, fire hydrant has crowfoot connections and air hose connected for water usage. REPLACE 2. N/E - S/W corner, safety shower appears to have low water pressure. Have water pressure checked. PAINT SHOP AREA 1. Microwave and refrigerator need cleaning. 2. N/W corner safety shower appears to have low water pressure. BREAK ROOM/LUNCH ROOM 1. Microwave and refrigerator need cleaning. LAM 003519 DPMC-09620 SOUTH BROILER SHOP Fire extinguisher next to west exit door not inspected since 10/91. Fire extinguisher next to double doors not inspected since 8/91. Fire extinguishers in shear room not inspected since 10/91. ANALYZER SHOP Bags of transite outside of Analyzer Shop needs to be removed now. Bags are torn open. Asbestos hazard. RADIO REPAIR SHOP Microwave oven needs cleaning. Ladders need to be inspected. No tags. AUTO GARAGE Old asbestos brakes are not being bagged per Maintenance procedure. Eye shield guard needed on the wire wheel grinder by the auto battery cage? SCAFFOLD YARD Hand sprayers on north side of caster building have liquid in them but are not marked. Overall, the scaffold yard was orderly. There does need to be some additional emphasis on neatness, especially regarding the wooden timbers which are used to keep scaffolding off the ground. They don't always get picked up and properly stored. There seems to be a sizeable amount of re-useable lumber being discarded in the large refuse bin. What determines when it can be re-used and when it must be discarded? LAM 003520 DPMC-09621 DEER PARK MANUFACTURING COMPLEX HEALTH & SAFETY COMMITTEE JANUARY 3, 1992 Member PROFS L. L. Contreras* W. P. Charles* V. W. Cornett* C. P. Ebanks* C. E. Green* W. L. Harbuck* E. M. Hawthorne M. D. Leaverton* C. P. Meeks* S. R. Prichard* M- W. Smith* S. W. Smith* G. Theiler* WPC VWC CPE9 CEG3 WLH29 EMH29 MDL29 CPM29 SRP MWS SWS29 GDT29 Alternate H. P. Corley J. A. Lummus A. J. Maggiore* E. Morales D. A. Skeahan C. W. Vasek* HPC JAL9 AJM29 EMM9 DAS1 CWV Present at Meeting SAM l 62347 60929 62348 60413 60419 62342 60436 66775 62341 69380 TEL jf 66381 66850 67508 67471 66264 67558 66902 66259 66784 67224 66285 67510 67058 66670 66049 66982 67357 63017 BEEPER # 549-1266 549-9581 549-9594 549-9979 549-1218 549-2456 - 549-5713 549-7573 549-9486 549-0922 549-9980 - 549-9744 549-7250 549-9588 549-0688 549-4201 PROPOSED NEXT MONTH'S AGENDA 1. This month's Unit Audit Manager(s) 2. Unit Audit(s) 3. Review of this month's Audit with the Manager(s) concerned 4. Next Meeting - February 7, 1992 1 HSB SATELLITE HSB DPMC-09609 LAM 003508