California Interagency Working Group On Refinery Safety Releases Final Report Outlining Safety Recommendations For Oil Refineries

California’s Interagency Working Group on Refinery Safety released its final report outlining recommendations to improve worker safety at and near state oil refineries.  The report provides recommendations for improving emergency response and preparedness, requiring safer systems to prevent hazardous events, and improving community awareness and emergency alerts.  It specifically calls for:

• Coordination of regulatory activities to avoid duplication and increase effectiveness;
• Establishment of clear criteria for unified emergency response and alignment of radio communications between industry firefighters and first responders;
• Improvement of data flow from refineries to public agencies;
• Requiring refineries to implement safer systems to prevent emergencies and to better protect workers and surrounding communities;
• Strengthening enforcement capacity to ensure oversight of refineries;
• Assessment of operational safety and organizational structures at refineries to reduce: lack of training, insufficient experience, and fatigue (all factors causing significant hazards); and
• Provision of greater community access to information and monitoring of air quality around refineries.

The Working Group is comprised of representatives from multiple state agencies including CAL/OSHA.  A task force has already been put in place to oversee many of the report’s recommendations.  The complete report is available here.