A petroleum refinery was inspected by OSHA as part of its Refinery National Emphasis Program. A team of compliance officers and industrial hygienists from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspected the refinery from September 10 through December 18, 2009. On March 8, 2010, OSHA issued three citations to Respondents, two of which were settled in their entirety prior to the hearing in this matter. The proceedings before Administrative Law Judge Sharon D. Calhoun concerned sixty-five items in Willful Citation 2, all of which allege violations of OSHA’s process safety management of highly hazardous chemicals (“PSM”) standard, 29 C.F.R. § 1910.119.[1]
For the alleged violations, the Secretary proposed a total penalty of $2,870,000. Following a nineteen-day hearing, the judge vacated all but five of these items, each of which she affirmed as serious and for which she assessed a total penalty of $35,000.
Fifty-six of the Willful Citation 2 items are on review before the Commission. These items concern various aspects of
- pressure relief equipment,
- cross-connections between systems in the refinery, and
- the siting of various buildings and facilities.
For the reasons that follow, all but two of the items are vacated as a result of the Secretary’s failure to prove a prima facie case.[3] The two affirmed items—Items 31a and 31b that concern cross-connections—are grouped as serious and assessed a single penalty of $7,000.
I. Items 2a through 12a, and 4b through 12b
Background on RAGAGEP