More Pain at the Pump?

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: