OSHA Reveals Safety Violations at Delek
November 25th, 2008 Roberts & RobertsOSHA Reveals Safety Violations at Delek
By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer
With federal investigators on the ground at Delek refinery to probe the cause of last week’s fatal explosion and fire, a 36-page report details various safety violations from earlier this year including one related to vapor cloud explosions.
In the explosion that rocked the plant and surrounding area Thursday, six people were injured. One of the injured, 49-year-old Dale Sharman, died as a result of the injuries he sustained in the fire.
Jim Hammett, 52, remains in Parkland Hospital in critical but stable condition with burns to more than 30 percent of his body, according to his daughter, Jamie Hammett of Tyler. The other people injured have been released from medical care.
Officials with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have said they will not comment further on the cause of the explosion and fire until the investigation is completed.
However, the agency did send documents, requested by the Tyler Morning Telegraph, which show the refinery (formerly LaGloria until an acquisition in 2005 by the Israel-based Delek) failed to act on OSHA recommendations regarding safety as far back as 1994.
Other recommendations not heeded were made by the federal agency in 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2005. The company was instructed earlier this year to follow the recommendations. All of the violations noted by OSHA were labeled as “serious.”
One of the violations with which Delek was cited on Feb. 19 stated the company “did not document that the equipment in the process complies with recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices.”
“The employers could not document that the FCCU control room and similarly constructed and operated structures adhered to current industry guidelines in terms of blast resistance in the event of a vapor cloud explosion from flammable hydrocarbon chemical release,” the report stated.
The report also showed the company failed to provide vehicle barriers to prevent accidents where critical equipment could be hit by machinery, failed to provide a written emergency operating procedure in the event of the flare system accidental shutoff, failed to ensure that the mechanical integrity program included checking for corrosion under insulation, did not have a classification system for prioritizing piping inspections based on consequences of failure and did not include the factors of an incident that could have resulted in a “catastrophic release” of highly hazardous chemical in the workplace.
The latter of the offenses occurred during a fire at the reactor main door at the FCC Unit.
The report continues with the agency fining Delek for not ensuring that valves on relief devices were in the proper configuration, rotating shafts were left unguarded, unlabeled containers of hazardous materials were stored on site and workers not wearing proper protective clothing when working with hot oil.
The report also included two invoice/debt collection notices, one dated Aug. 18, 2008, for two citations totaling $68,250, and another dated Oct. 22, 2008, for $6,300.
Delek spokeswoman Susan Morgenstern said the company would not discuss the report saying, “We are trying really hard to disclose what we can in written statements to make sure the information is accurate and that everyone gets the information at the same time.”
OSHA officials did say last week that the fines remain unresolved, but they remain tight-lipped about the investigation.
In October 2005 the refinery had a small fire on a gasoline tank and Capt. Jeff Akin, Tyler Fire public information officer, said the refinery may have small fires they extinguish themselves.
“We don’t have any fire calls out there for the past year except for the explosion last week, but if it was a small fire then the plant’s fire brigade may take care of it themselves,” he said.
Tyler firefighters said they believe there may have been a vapor type explosion in the refinery’s saturated gas plant.
“Some employees told our investigators that they were in the control room when they heard a hissing sound. They stepped out to see what was going on and then the explosion occurred,”.
Akin said it was also unclear what may have been the source of ignition.
“We don’t know at this time, but the OSHA investigators may be able to learn exactly what happened. Right now there are a lot of possibilities,” he said.
(original story located on Tylerpaper.com)
