Too Many Industrial Accidents in Oil Sector, USW Charges

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Apr 20, 2010, 05:45 ET

PITTSBURGH, April 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United Steelworkers (USW) today urged the oil industry to monitor safety conditions at refinery construction sites in light of yet another death in the industry yesterday of a contractor on the Motiva Enterprises expansion project in Port Arthur, Texas.

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The contractor was working for Becon Construction Co., a subsidiary of Bechtel Corp. Counterweights were being put on a crane when the accident occurred about 8:30 a.m. The cause of the incident is being investigated by OSHA.

"The USW expresses its condolences to the family of the victim and to the other workers present at the site," said USW Vice President Gary Beevers. "Any fatality is one too many."

There have been reports of four to five minor crane incidents at the expansion site before the fatal accident. The crane involved was not supplied or owned by Deep South Crane & Rigging Company.

The USW is the largest industrial union in North America and has 850,000 members in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean. It represents workers employed in metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining, atomic energy and the service sector.

Contact: Lynne Baker, USW Communications, o) 615-831-6782, c) 615-828-6169

SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)