A February explosion in Middletown, CT, that killed six workers, injured 50 others and ravaged an under-construction energy plant has prompted OSHA to issue its third-largest fine ever.
It must be a case of deja vu for the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB). Five years ago it was investigating an explosion in Texas that killed 15 BP workers. Now it will investigate the Gulf explosion and spill that killed 11 BP workers.
A U.S. company tried — but failed — to block release of a video showing release of a hazardous chemical and a resulting fire, arguing it would “raise substantial issues of national security.”
A measure, just signed into law by President Obama, would prohibit chemical companies from classifying safety information as “sensitive” in an effort to keep it from becoming public. The new law is in response to a workplace explosion that caused two fatalities.
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and OSHA interim administrator Jordan Barab have said that a new combustible dust regulation is one of their rulemaking priorities at OSHA.