(Washington, D.C.) – On Thursday, June 10, U.S.
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) will chair a hearing of the Senate Employment and
Workplace Safety Subcommittee to investigate the failure of oil and gas
companies to learn from previous tragedies and implement effective worker
safety processes. Murray will question witnesses on the lessons learned from
past accidents, as well as what changes need to be made to better protect
workers in the oil and gas industry.
Kim Nibarger, one of the witnesses at the hearing, was
present at the Tesoro refinery disaster and will be discussing his personal
experiences with the accident in Anacortes, Washington that killed 7 workers in
April, 2010. Witnesses will also discuss how the incidents at the BP
Texas City refinery in 2005, the Deepwater Horizon explosion, and the Tesoro
refinery in Washington state all demonstrated the effects of failed process
safety management in the oil and gas industry. The hearing also comes on
the 11 year anniversary of the Bellingham
pipeline explosion, and Senator Murray will be discussing some of the
lessons learned from this tragedy.
WHO:
Senator Patty
Murray (D-WA
Jordan
Barab, Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, Washington, DC
Kim
Nibarger, Health and Safety
Specialist, United Steelworkers, Pittsburgh, PA
Randall
Sawyer, Director, Hazardous Materials
Programs, Contra Costa County, Martinez, CA
Charles
Drevna, President, National
Petrochemical & Refiners Association, Washington, DC
BP
Executive (Invited)
WHAT:
Senate Employment and Workplace
Safety Subcommittee hearing—Production over Protections: A Review of Process
Safety Management in the Oil and Gas Industry
WHERE:
430 Dirksen Senate Office Building
WHEN: Thursday,
June 10, 2010
10:00 AM ET/7:00 AM PT
WEBCAST: View
live here
*Audio will be available
following the hearing
