Four years ago today, a huge explosion and fire at the Imperial Sugar refinery northwest of Savannah, Ga., killed 14 people and injured 38 others. Fourteen of the injured suffered serious and life-threatening burns. The explosion was fueled by massive accumulations of combustible sugar dust throughout the packaging building. After the incident, here was one fascinating paragraph included in a U.S. Chemical Safety Board press release on the board’s investigation:

The CSB report said that the sugar industry was familiar with dust explosion hazards at least as far back as 1925. Internal correspondence dating from 1967 showed that Port Wentworth refinery managers were seriously concerned about the possibility of a sugar dust explosion that could “travel from one area to another, wrecking large sections of a plant.” Precursor events included a 1998 explosion at Imperial’s plant in Sugar Land, Texas; an explosion at the Domino Sugar plant in Baltimore in November 2007; and two sugar dust explosions in the 1960’s that killed a total of ten workers. However, Imperial management did not correct the underlying causes of the sugar dust problem at the Port Wentworth facility, where workers testified that spilled sugar was knee-deep in places on the floor, and sugar dust had coated equipment and other elevated surfaces.

The report marked one of many times that the CSB has recommended that the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration adopt a broad industry rule to protect American workers from all sorts of combustible dust. As explained in my previous post, Obama’s OSHA puts protecting workers from dangers of combustible dust on back burner:

The CSB first called for an OSHA regulation on combustible dust after issuing a 2006 report that identified 281 dust fires and explosions that killed 119 workers and injured 718 others nationwide between 1980 and 2005. In a November 2011 report, board investigators noted 17 other deaths in dust incidents the agency is examining, including three in a December explosion that killed three at the AL Solutions Inc. metals recycling plant in New Cumberland, Hancock County, W.Va.

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When we last left our friends at the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, they had no timeline to speak of for coming out with a new regulation aimed at protecting American workers from the increasingly obvious dangers of combustible dust. Back in July 2011, unidentified OSHA officials said in a Webchat:

OSHA is not able to project an estimate for when we will publish a proposed standard on combustible dust. The next step in the rule making process is to initiate the SBREFA panel review, which is currently estimated for December.

As best I can tell, OSHA has yet to convene that SBREFA (Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act) panel, and at least one industry publication reported last month:

… The SBREFA Panel has been delayed several times, in large part because OSHA has not been ready to unveil the actual proposed regulatory text for the Rule.

So imagine my surprise when the combustible dust rule didn’t show up on this new list of OSHA’s rulemaking priorities. I asked the Labor Department about this, and a spokesman told me on Friday:

It did not fall off our agenda. It’s been moved to long term action.  This means we are continuing work on this project but we are not projecting a next action and date at this time.

Of course, just a couple of weeks ago, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board repeated its long-standing call for OSHA to publish a new standard on combustible dust — this time adding to the urgency by recommending OSHA do so within a year, after investigating three incidents involving flash fires and an explosion that killed five workers last year at Hoeganaes powdered metals plant in Gallatin, Tennessee. CSB Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso said:

The three accidents at the Hoeganaes facility were entirely preventable. Despite evidence released by the CSB and information that Hoeganaes had in its possession even before the first accident in January 2011, the company did not institute adequate dust control or housekeeping measures. Dust fires and explosions continue to claim lives and destroy property in many industries. More must be done to control this hazard. No more lives should be lost from these preventable accidents.

The CSB first called for an OSHA regulation on combustible dust after issuing a 2006 report that identified 281 dust fires and explosions that killed 119 workers and injured 718 others nationwide between 1980 and 2005. In a November 2011 report, board investigators noted 17 other deaths in dust incidents the agency is examining, including three in a December explosion that killed three at the AL Solutions Inc. metals recycling plant in New Cumberland, Hancock County, W.Va.

Fireman battle a fire at AL Solutions after an explosion rocked the plant Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010 in New Cumberland, W.Va. Three workers were killed and one person was injured, police and company officials said Thursday. (AP Photo/The Review, Michael D. McElwain)

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The holiday season wasn’t so happy for the families of two workers at the WTI hazardous waste incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio, across the river from Chester, W.Va.  A week before Christmas, a chemical fire a the facility — now officially known as Heritage-WTI Inc. — left one worker dead and another seriously burned.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board said in a statement:

According to company officials a flash fire occurred when workers were splitting a large solid waste drum of hazardous flammable inorganic material into smaller storage drums … Unfortunately accidents at hazardous waste processing facilities are all too common.

The CSB investigated a major fire in 2006 at the Environmental Quality Company, a hazardous waste facility located in Apex, North Carolina, which resulted in the evacuation of thousands of residents for two days. In an April 2008 report, the board explained:

In addition to the EQ incidents, the CSB found 21 other fire and chemical release incidents9 at hazardous waste facilities in the United States in the last five years. Fourteen of the incidents involved fires and/or explosions and seven were release-only incidents. These incidents resulted in two fatalities, 16 injuries, and eight community evacuations, shelter-in-place events, or transportation disruptions.

The CSB also investigated a 2009 explosion and fire at the Veolia ES Technical Solutions L.L.C. facility in West Carrollton, Ohio. The accident occurred when flammable vapor was released from a waste recycling process, ignited, and violently exploded. The blast seriously injured two workers and damaged 20 nearby residences and five businesses.

As the board explained in a statement last week:

As a result of these two investigations, the Chemical Safety Board issued recommendations to the Environmental Technology Council (ETC), a hazardous waste industry trade group. Specifically, one of the recommendations is to petition the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), a developer of U.S. fire prevention codes, to issue a standard specific to hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facilities. The standard would provide guidance to prevent the occurrence of fires, explosions, and releases at these types of facilities. This recommendation has still yet to be implemented.

Here’s the latest from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration:

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Elm Grove-based Uwanta Linen Supply Inc. for 21 safety and health violations that exposed workers to a variety of hazards. Proposed penalties total $62,400.

OSHA said that eighteen serious safety and health violations, with penalties of $61,200, included:

— Failing to evaluate the facility to determine if any areas were permit-required confined spaces

– Failing to properly guard floor holes

– Not developing written energy control procedures for machines with multiple energy sources; mount portable fire extinguishers, perform annual maintenance checks on them and train employees on their use

– Failing to examine forklifts before placing them in service

– Failure to conduct an exposure determination for workers with exposure to bloodborne pathogens

– Not providing  fall protection for employees working on an elevated platform using forklifts

The agency also said the company failed to:

… Provide personal protective equipment; provide a suitable facility for quick drenching or flushing of the eyes and/or body for workers exposed to injurious corrosive materials; provide a hand-washing facility readily accessible to employees; provide appropriate safety and machine guarding; provide hepatitis B vaccines to employees potentially exposed to bloodborne pathogens; ensure that all work areas were clean and in an orderly and sanitary condition; ensure that an emergency exit door was unlocked and unimpeded; ensure that electrical equipment was free from recognized hazards; keep the area around a circuit breaker panel free from materials; attach grounded conductors to terminals or leads so as to reverse polarity; effectively close knockouts; properly illuminate work areas for employees; properly illuminate each exit sign; establish a written exposure control plan to eliminate or minimize employee exposure to bloodborne pathogens; and institute an effective hearing conservation program.

The violations were cited following OSHA inspections last May (see here and here).  Uwanta Linen Supply, a commercial laundry that employs about 16 workers at its Elm Grove location, has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

OSHA Charleston area director Prentice Cline said:

By disregarding OSHA’s standards, this company is leaving its employees vulnerable to hazards that could cause serious injury or even death. It is imperative that Uwanta Linen Supply address the cited violations immediately.

President Barack Obama pauses during his news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

It was baffling earlier this week to listen in to a House subcommittee hearing as Republican lawmakers repeated over and over their mantra that workplace safety regulations kill jobs. That’s because their statements that the current U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration was moving too quickly on too many regulations just didn’t seem to mesh with what I’ve seen happening at OSHA (see previous posts here, here and here).

In fact, OSHA chief David Michaels himself testified to the committee:

Over the past 15 years, OSHA has, on average, issued only a few major standards each year, with some periods in which no major standards have been issued.

In fact, over the past year, OSHA has issued only two major standards: one protecting workers from hazards associated with cranes and derricks, and another standard to protect shipyard workers. Both took years to develop.

So I was very interested to read this new report from the folks at Public Citizen, who explained:

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has produced regulations in the past decade at a far slower rate than ever before, postponing rules that would have prevented more than 100,000 serious injuries, more than 10,000 cases of illness and hundreds of fatalities, a new Public Citizen report shows.

The report, “OSHA Inaction,” found that since 2001, OSHA has produced just one new health or safety standard every 2.5 years. Previously, the agency produced an average of 2.6 rules per year, the report found. Individual OSHA regulations have been delayed for as long as 31 years, and the agency has been unable to address a wide array of common workplace hazards. Presidential administrations, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court have all had a hand in slowing down the rulemaking process.

Justin Feldman, worker health and safety advocate with Public Citizen and author of the report, said:

The requirements on OSHA have nearly paralyzed the agency.  As a result, OSHA cannot adequately protect workers from toxic chemicals, heat stress, repetitive use injuries, workplace violence and many other occupational dangers. Inadequate regulation imposes tremendous costs on workers, who may be forced to pay with their health or even their lives.

This week’s death of 63-year-old Ned Johnson at one of the federal government’s “model workplaces” isn’t the first time a worker was killed at a West Virginia facility that was exempted from routine inspections by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Workers previously died while working for contractors at Allegheny Power facilities in 2007 and 2008, according to OSHA records.

The 2008 incident occurred at the company’s Fort Martin Power Station (shown above) near Maidsville in Monongahela County. The contractor, working for a company called Coresco, was run over by a coal-ash truck. Coresco paid a $3,500 fine.

The 2007 incident occurred at Allegheny’s Willow Island Power Plant in Pleasants County (a site infamous for the April 1978 cooling tower construction collapse that killed 51 workers). An employee of contractor Pullman Power fell from a 200-foot-high walkway. No citations or fines were issued.

Interestingly, five years before that death, in October 2002, two workers were killed at the adjacent Pleasants Power Station when a manlift they were using tipped over. No citations  or fines were issued in those deaths, either.

There’s a complete list of the West Virginia worksites that are exempted from inspections under the OSHA Voluntary Protection Program, or VPP, online here. As we’ve mentioned before, the Center for Public Integrity has been raised major questions about this program, reporting among other things:

Since 2000, at least 80 workers have died at “model workplaces” OSHA considers the nation’s safest, and which it exempts from some inspections. In 47 of these cases, inspectors found serious safety violations and, sometimes, tragedies that could have been averted.

Will the most recent death get Allegheny (now FirstEnergy) or any of its facilities booted from this OSHA program? I asked agency spokeswoman Leni Uddyback-Fortson that question and this was her answer:

OSHA’s top priority is to conduct a thorough fatality investigation , which we are currently in the process of doing. Once the investigation is concluded, the facility’s VPP status will be re-evaluated. OSHA’s policy with respect to fatalities and willful violations at VPP sites is currently under review.

In today’s Gazette, we followed up on the death on Sunday of Ned Johnson, a 63-year-old longtime employee of FirstEnergy’s Harrison Power Station near Clarksburg. Specifically, we examined the sad fact that this particular worksite had not been inspected by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration in more than a decade:

FirstEnergy’s Harrison Power Station is part of a labor department program meant to allow work sites with good safety records to avoid routine Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspections. The program has been criticized by congressional auditors and by workplace safety advocates.

OSHA, though, last inspected Allegheny Energy’s workplaces at the Harrison Power Station in July 2000. Inspectors cited two minor violations, and issued no fines.

Before that, the last inspection of the operation was following the death of a worker in an electrical accident in March 1994, according to OSHA records and Gazette news reports.

Two things are worth thinking about in the wake of this incident.

First, unlike federal mine safety laws, workplace safety laws OSHA operates under do not require periodic inspections of each and every American workplace. In fact, most workplaces in West Virginia and nationwide go for years without ever seeing a federal inspector. As we reported previously:

Business lobbyists like to make out like OSHA is a big, bad agency that shuts them down for all sorts of silly things. The Obama administration and its friends in the labor movement often try to spin it that this administration is doing a great job protecting workers.

But as the AFL-CIO noted in its most recent Death on the Job report, at its current rate, it would take OSHA more than 80 years to inspect every job site in West Virginia.

Remember that OSHA hadn’t inspected the AL Solutions plant in New Cumberland, W.Va., since July 2006 prior to the December 2010 explosion and fire that killed three workers.  Prior to the January 2010 phosgene leak that killed a worker at DuPont Co.’s Belle, W.Va., plant, OSHA hadn’t inspected that facility for nearly five years.

And second, the reason that OSHA hadn’t visited Willow Island for an inspection for so long is that agency officials put the facility into something called the Voluntary Protection Program, or VPP, which allows companies to avoid regular and programmed inspections if they convince OSHA they are good actors.

Celeste Monforton at The Pump Handle blog has written clearly about the flaws with this OSHA program — how agency officials really have no idea if it works or is a good use of government resources.

And more recently, the fine folks at the Center for Public Integrity have exposed the VPP program, writing of the workplaces OSHA allowed into the program:

Since 2000, at least 80 workers have died at these sites, and investigators found serious safety violations in at least 47 of these cases, records examined by the Center for Public Integrity’s iWatch News show.

Workers at plants billed as the nation’s safest have died in preventable explosions, chemical releases and crane accidents. They have been pulled into machinery or asphyxiated. Investigators, called in because of deaths, have uncovered underlying safety problems — failure to follow recognized safety practices, inadequate inspections and training, lack of proper protective gear, unguarded machinery, improper handling of hazardous chemicals.

Yet these companies have rarely faced heavy fines or expulsion from the program. In death cases in which OSHA found at least one violation, VPP companies ultimately paid an average of about $8,000 in fines. And at least 65 percent of sites where a worker has died since 2000 remain in VPP today.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis — the “new sheriff” that the labor community hoped would protect American workers — has no timeline for when her Occupational Safety and Health Administration might get around to issuing a rule to deal with the dangers of combustible dust. See previous coverage of this issue here, here, here, here and here.

I asked OSHA officials during a webchat earlier this week on the agency’s regulatory agenda:

When might we expect to actually see an OSHA standard on combustible dust?

Their answer:

OSHA is not able to project an estimate for when we will publish a proposed standard on combustible dust. The next step in the rule making process is to initiate the SBREFA panel review, which is currently estimated for December.

Hilda Solis has said such a standard is “long overdue,” but so far her agency hasn’t even set a goal for when it might even propose a combustible dust standard. And OSHA seems to keep falling farther and farther behind on this … the last time they issued a regulatory agenda, the SBREFA panel was to be convened in April 2011. Now it’s December 2011 …