On the anniversary of the Aug. 6 2012 Chevron Richmond fire that nearly killed 19 workers and sent 15,000 in search of medical care, UCLA Labor Occupational Safety and Health (LOSH) Program & United Steelworkers Local 675 released new videos about California’s groundbreaking PSM regulation to protect refinery workers and communities.
The 4-part video series can be viewed on LOSH’s website: losh.ucla.edu/psm
SAFER REFINERIES, SAFER COMMUNITIES
California’s 2017 Process Safety Management (PSM) regulation represents the most important advancement for industrial safety in America since 1992, when federal OSHA issued the first PSM regulation in the wake of the Union Carbide chemical disaster in Bhopal India that killed as many as 15,000 people.
This groundbreaking regulation was the result of labor, community and environmental justice organizing for stronger protections from refinery hazards after the 2012 Chevron Richmond fire that nearly killed 19 workers and sent an estimated 15,000 community members to seek health care.
The PSM regulation creates a framework for process safety in California’s refineries long recognized as essential to refinery safety. Key elements include rights for workers, hierarchy of controls, inherent safety measures, damage mechanism reviews, human factors, safety culture and more. The right for workers to have a voice is the foundation of this regulation.
It is up to us to make sure the regulation is implemented and enforced – for safer refineries and safer communities. To that end, UCLA LOSH collaborated with the United Steelworkers (USW) to create four short videos that highlight the history and key elements of the regulation. They are designed for outreach and education with workers, community members, labor and environmental justice organizations.
Contact them at loshinfo@ucla.edu about worker training and click below to see the videos in the series: