Shell Chemical Will Pay $135,900 Fine

For its failure to implement standards that protect workers against hazardous chemicals in one of its process units, Shell Chemical LP in Geismar, La., has agreed to pay $135,900 in penalties for citations issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Sandy Smith

Aug. 19, 2002

"In addition to agreeing to the penalties, Shell has worked closely and cooperatively with OSHA to work at improving its overall safety and health procedures," said John Deifer, OSHA's Baton Rouge area director. The OSHA office investigated a Feb. 12 fatality at the Geismar facility where a catalyst technician, working with a highly hazardous chemical, was killed as the result of an explosion.

The company received 14 safety and health violations for failing to implement elements of the Process Safety Management Standards for Highly Hazardous Chemicals, as well as failure to implement lockout/tagout procedures to shut down energy sources and failure to comply with confined space requirements.

The process safety management standard must be followed by facilities that utilize certain thresholds of hazardous chemicals. It requires the training of workers and an analysis of potential hazards and how to correct them.