“Life Inside Refineries” – feature article on TEI Energy Outlook (Oct 2014 edition).
Four years since the fatal accident at the Tesoro Refinery in Anacortes, Washington, where seven workers were fatally injured due to a lame maintenance snafu. After preliminary investigations of the accident, the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) issued a list of guidelines a year later to make the refinery work environment and practices safer. That was in April 2011.
While CSB Chairperson Dr. Rafael Moure-Eraso encourages companies to “make the investments necessary to ensure safe operations,” how aggressively are these guidelines actually being followed?
News of explosions in the Chevron Pascagoula Refinery hadn’t even faded out from the tabloids when, not a month ago, a terrible explosion rocked the British Petroleum (BP) refinery in Whiting, Indiana. A refinery worker in the Brazilian city of Manaus died of injuries sustained from hazardous conditions in a Petrobras plant.
A Series of “Unfortunate Incidents” – The Cover-up Behind Refinery Accidents
Among the hundreds of mishaps that engulf refineries worldwide each year, only a few incidents involving high-profile companies, such as these, come to light. Private investors in the highly lucrative and prospective refinery industry are looking to excel larger profits from rising processed fuel demands. But, the conditions of their internal customers – their employees, are largely overlooked.
Grievous injuries in the workplace are take-home for most refinery workers. According to 2013 business research and analysis reports, in 2008-2012, British Columbia (BC) repeatedly recorded twice the average short-term disability (STD) days per claim for oil and gas industry workers than all the industries in Canada combined. Over 916 fatal claims, of which 22% of victims were from the 15-24 age bracket, came from the industry in that same time period.
United Nations (UN) labour-right protection arm, International Labour Organization (ILO), recognizes four essential criteria for ‘decent’ work conditions:
- Providence of ‘Rights at Work’
- Obviation of social security with deserved ‘Employment Status’
- Coverage of benefit levels for ‘Social Protection’
- Communication of grievances through ‘Social Dialogue’
Differential Treatment between Contract & Permanent Workers
Even while a company’s contract labour workers and permanent staffs work under the same roof, magnitudes of these attributes essentially differ for the two sets. Yet, in its last report on contract workers’ conditions throughout the globe, ILO noticed only one country (Canada) to present a fair and transparent comparison between the two classes. Others kept mum on the topic even though contract recruits were higher than payroll employment stats in the oil and gas industry in the last decade.
By Fortune 500 standings, refineries prove one of the most profitable and high-paying sectors with a 5.4% return on assets.
The reasons for higher contractual employments were aplenty:
- Lucrative remuneration packages
- Work rosters that allow offshore contract workers to work in rotations, which translates to high number of individual leaves sanctioned annually
- Versatile “challenging” job profile in comparison to the daily 9-5 work routine grind
- High chances of abroad postings; transportation costs being born by employers
Employers’ Priority on Worker Safety
Apart from occupational hazards, the dangers of working in today’s refining industry are multiplied by the negligence of employing authorities. In a recent report released by CSB in August 2014 regarding the 2010 Tesoro Refinery mishap, Dr. Moure-Eraso comments, “The accident at Tesoro could have been prevented had the company applied inherent safety principles and used HTHA [High-Temperature Hydrogen Attack] resistant construction materials to prevent the heat exchanger cracking.”
He also added, “This accident is very similar to the one that occurred at the Chevron refinery in Richmond, California in August 2012, where corrosion of piping went undetected for decades until it ruptured, endangering the lives of 19 workers caught in a vapor cloud and sending 15,000 community members to the hospital. Companies must do a better job of preventing refinery accidents, which occur all too frequently.”
Volatile Global O&G Market Trends
Global pricing of crude oil also is a big deciding factor for corporate behaviours towards their workforces. International (IOC) and National Oil Companies (NOC) drastically cut back work teams in times of losses to remain profitable, thus violating regulations under the Decent Work Agenda maintained by ILO. Despite providing high returns, the oil and refiners’ authorities have ignored freedom of association and rights of civil liberties of the working class with impunity.
Countries like Russia, which have a huge number of old and decaying refineries, are opting for higher upgrades in their respective refining sector as a whole. While this may result in safer working conditions in the future, the upcoming fiscal losses in 2015-16 do not look too bright for the millions of contract and operating workers in those countries.
