Heat-related exposure claims life of a contract worker at a petroleum refinery

Employer name: JV Industrial Cos. Ltd., headquartered in Pasadena, Texas, was contracted by Valero St. Charles Refinery in Norco, Louisiana, to demolish piping in its sulfuric acid alkylation unit.

Citations issued: Sept. 16, 2015

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Baton Rouge Area Office cited the employer for one serious violation for failing to implement a heat management program for workers exposed to excessive heat while wearing chemical resistant encapsulating suits. OSHA initiated the March 2015 inspection after receiving notification that a 45-year-old pipefitter, who was cutting pipe outdoors in four layers of clothing, including a chemical suit, died on the job.

Proposed penalties: $7,000, the maximum penalty for a serious violation.

Quote: "While the temperature outdoors was 83 degrees, JV Industrial failed to take into consideration the increased heat stress caused by the specialized clothing being worn by the workers as they cut and removed the piping," said Dorinda Folse, OSHA's area director in Baton Rouge. "A life was needlessly lost because the employer failed to implement a heat management program to protect workers."

Link to the citations: http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/JVIndustrial_1048419.pdf.

Information: JV Industrial, a contract company specializing in turnaround activity at chemical and refinery plants, employs about 2,400 workers at eight operation offices. The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions; obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Baton Rouge Area Office at 225-298-5458.