BP Products North America Inc., has been hit with a whopping $87.4 million fine by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). With this latest fine — the highest in OSHA history — BP now has the dubious distinction of holding both first and second place on OSHA's top-fines' list. The previous top penalty of $21 million was issued to BP in 2005 for safety violations at the company's 1,200-acre facility in Texas City, Texas, southeast of Houston in Galveston County. That explosion, in March 2005, left 15 dead and 170 injured.

For that workplace accident, BP and OSHA rather quickly reached an agreement. In September 2005, the company committed to a series of specific corrective actions. This latest accumulation of fines come after a six-month inspection by OSHA to evaluate BP compliance with that 2005 agreement and the company's current operations at the Texas City facility.

According to OSHA, the $87.4 million in fines are a combination of new violations at the Texas refinery and BP's failure to abide by the 2005 agreement. OSHA cited BP for:

• Individual Relief Device deficiencies – 411 instances (new violations). Classified as Willful Egregious. Proposed penalties: $28,770,000.
• Failure to provide operating limits in procedures – 28 instances (new violations). Classified as Willful Egregious. Proposed penalties: $1,960,000.
• Failure to perform relief device studies – 28 instances (non-compliance with the settlement agreement). Classified as Failure to Abate (FTA). Proposed penalties: $5,880,000.
• Failure to implement International Society of Automation standard for safety instrumented systems – 242 instances (non-compliance with the settlement agreement). Classified as FTA. Proposed penalties: $50,820,000.

"When BP signed the OSHA settlement from the March 2005 explosion, it agreed to take comprehensive action to protect employees. Instead of living up to that commitment, BP has allowed hundreds of potential hazards to continue unabated," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis in a prepared release. "Fifteen people lost their lives as a result of the 2005 tragedy, and 170 others were injured. An $87 million fine won't restore those lives, but we can't let this happen again. Workplace safety is more than a slogan. It's the law. The U.S. Department of Labor will not tolerate the preventable exposure of workers to hazardous conditions."