USW: Often It’s Production Or Profit Over Safety In The Oil Sector

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/13370

Submitted by Doug Cunningham on April 21, 2010 - 2:23pm
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By Doug Cunningham

The Louisiana oil rig explosion and fire has drawn new attention to safety in the oil sector of the U.S. economy. The United Steel Workers represents workers at oil refineries and says safer practices need to be adopted. USW Safety and Health specialist Kim Nibarger says in the refinery sector of the oil industry the push for profit and production often outweighs safety concerns.

: “I think that there is a production or profit over safety at almost every site. The official stance may not be, but the actual workplace reality of it is production or profit over safety.”

Nibarger says lack of proper and regular maintenance of equipment is a big safety factor in oil refinery operations. But so is under-staffing, pushing too few workers for too many hours.

: “Staffing is an extremely critical issue. It not only has to do with the ability to respond to emergency events, it’s also a leader in the tremendous overtime that we see in the industry. Spend a lot of time and money doing alcohol and drug testing for impairment – after a worker reaches that 12 hour, 10 hour workday lots of times tests have shown they’re in the same condition as if they had been drinking alcohol.”