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IBEW helps build Busch Gardens' newest roller coaster.
IBEW helps build Busch Gardens' newest roller coaster.
The AFL-CIO welcomes the Executive Order issued by President Obama today to address chemical hazards that threaten our nation’s workers and communities. This directive brings leadership and direction that is urgently needed to improve chemical safety and security throughout the country.
This past April, an explosion at a West, Texas, fertilizer plant, which killed 15 people and destroyed dozens of homes and businesses, revealed huge gaps in the regulation and oversight of chemical facilities. The Texas facility, which stored tons of the deadly chemical ammonium nitrate was exempt from key EPA and OSHA chemical safety rules and had not been inspected by OSHA since 1985.
But this was only the latest in a long series of chemical accidents that have resulted from gaps in regulation. Deadly explosions caused by reactive chemicals and processes that are exempt from OSHA’s process safety management standard have killed and injured hundreds of workers in the past two decades. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board has recommended immediate action to strengthen this rule, but this has not happened.
Today’s order outlines a comprehensive action plan to address chemical hazards. Once implemented, it will improve coordination of EPA, OSHA and DHS and other government agencies in their efforts to address these deadly hazards. It will provide local first responders with ready access to information so they can prepare for and respond to chemical emergencies, and it will enhance oversight of high-risk facilities. It will also spur action to modernize chemical safety regulations, including OSHA’s process safety management standard, which the AFL-CIO and unions have been seeking for many years.
President Obama’s order provides the direction and roadmap to address chemical hazards. The AFL-CIO looks forward to working with government agencies and other stakeholders to see that this order is implemented promptly and fully so our nation’s workplaces and communities are safe and secure.
Contact: Amaya Tune (202) 637-5018
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AFL-CIO Media Outreach Department 202-637-5018
Gonzalo Salvador , 202-637-5033
