The Department of Industrial Relations' (DIR) Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board approved a landmark regulation to strengthen workplace safety and health at oil refineries across the state. The new regulation provides a framework for anticipating, preventing and responding to hazards at refineries.
"This is the most protective regulation in the nation for the safety and health of refinery workers and surrounding communities," said DIR Director Christine Baker. "This new regulation will ensure California's oil refineries are operated with the highest levels of safety possible and with injury and illness prevention in mind."
The new regulations have been implemented by the Governor's Interagency Working Group on Refinery Safety which called for the establishment of the Interagency Refinery Task Force. The task force was created to improve workplace safety and health, emergency preparedness and response procedures at refineries. The California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/OSHA) formed the task force in August 2013, which includes DIR, eight other state agencies, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as well as local and regional agencies from across the state that have refineries in their jurisdictions.
The approved regulations introduce a new refinery safety order enforced by Cal/OSHA's Process Safety Management Unit. Most refineries in California had already adopted some of the new mandated practices over the past decade, and those refineries have seen significant improvement in safety performance. The new rules are part of a package of complementary regulations intended to make California refineries safer for both workers and surrounding communities. The regulations also strengthen the California Accidental Release Prevention program, which was designed to prevent the accidental release of hazardous substances that could harm public health and the environment.
For more information, visit www.Dir.ca.gov or call (866) 924-9757.
