Fish Engineering & Construction Inc., Houston, has agreed to conduct a company-wide safety and health program and pay $100,000 to settle citations issued by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
OSHA cited Fish for alleged violations of safety and health rules at the time of an explosion and fire in Phillips 66 Co.'s Houston Chemical Complex at Pasadena, Tex.
Fish was working as a maintenance contractor to Phillips when the October 1989 accident occurred, killing 23 persons and injuring more than 130. Four persons who died and 52 of those injured worked for Fish.
OSHA's original proposed penalties against Fish totaled $729,000.
Phillips agreed in August 1991 to implement a corporate-wide process safety management program to protect workers from such accidents and to pay $4 million to settle OSHA citations. Fish has about 1,100 employees working on three maintenance sites in Houston and two construction sites - one in Moab, Utah, the other on a Navajo Indian reservation in Arizona near Gallup, N.M.
OSHA plans to complete an audit of Fish's safety and health program in 6 months. The audit is to include:
- A review of current management systems safety permit systems, hot work permits, training, process safety information, electrical safety, respiratory protection, hazard communication, and emergency response.
- Identification of potential hazards in workplaces, as well as an assessment of those potential hazards.
- An examination of the safety program and management systems to determine if the program and systems are adequate for the identified potential hazards.
Fish agreed to adopt an action plan to correct any potential hazards noted in the audit.
The contractor also agreed to adhere to principles set forth in the voluntary guidelines for safety and health program management issued by OSHA in January 1989.
The company's corporate-wide commitment to the implementation of the guidelines will be carried out through such actions as:
- A reaffirmation by Fish's chief executive officer of the fundamental importance to the company of safety and health protection for every employee.
- Establishment of clear corporate safety and health goals and objectives for management, with clear responsibilities assigned to managers and supervisors for achieving those goals and objectives.
- Holding managers and supervisors accountable for achieving their assigned goals and objectives. This is to be reinforced through the performance evaluation system and appropriate incentives.
- An increased commitment of resources to conduct regular worksite evaluations to identify and eliminate hazards and violations. This is to include an "appropriate" number of qualified safety and health professionals.
- An increased commitment of corporate resources for employee safety and health training.
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