Oil company looks to restart after deadly fire

• Marathon Petroleum Corp. is waiting for OSHA approval to begin repairs to a fire-damaged reformer at its 593,000-barrel-per-day Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas.
• OSHA has control over the 75,000 barrels per day Ultraformer 3 reformer while the agency is investigating a deadly fire on the unit at the refinery in Texas City where a Marathon employee was killed and two contract workers were burned.
• The agency has allowed Marathon to remove damaged equipment from Ultraformer 3 after documenting the location of the equipment and photographing it.
• Reformers convert refining by-products into reformate, which is added to unfinished gasoline to make higher-octane fuels.
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Texas enacts workplace violence bill

• Texas employers will be required to post a notice to employees related to reporting instances of workplace violence or suspicious activity.
• However, enforcement is unlikely until the Texas Workforce Commission issues the prescribed notice.
• The law does not require the Texas Workforce Commission to issue the prescribed notice until March 1, 2024.
• The law will take effect on September 1, 2023, but the Texas Workforce Commission will have until March 1, 2024, to issue the prescribed notice for employers to post.
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OSHA releases info on deadly jet engine accident

• OSHA released its findings after an investigation into the death of Courtney Edwards at the Montgomery, Alabama Regional Airport.
• The agency said that had Piedmont Airlines, a subsidiary of American Airlines, made sure that a ground crew followed required safety procedures, a customer service agent might not have suffered fatal injuries after being pulled into the jet engine.
• The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary findings in late January, stating that several safety protocols do not appear to have been followed, which could have protected those in the vicinity of the airplane from injury or death.
• Piedmont Airlines now faces $15,625 in proposed penalties, an amount set by federal statute.
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Chemical explosion kills worker in North Carolina plant

• A chemical explosion killed a worker at a plant in North Carolina after an explosion was reported at Darling Ingredients, which repurposes animal byproducts, according to its website.
• The worker died at an ancillary building in a Wadesboro-area facility and the plant was shut down and an investigation is underway.
• Aluminum chloride has several uses, including as a catalyst for cracking petroleum, preserving wood, and in medications, disinfectants, cosmetics, photography, and textiles.
• Crews took precautions at the plant and there wasn’t a threat to the public.
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