United Steelworkers (USW) Vice President Gary Beevers said at the union’s National Oil Bargaining (NOB) conference that the oil industry’s “run to failure” mentality concerning equipment gets worse every day. He also said that the union will not give up its campaign to have enforceable health and safety language.

“It’s all about money,” said Beevers, who heads the union’s oil sector. “The refiners run the units longer to sell as much product as possible.”

“We see a growing crisis of safety in the oil sector,” said Rafael Moure-Eraso, chair of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, who spoke at the NOB conference. He cited the Gulf rig disaster as well as recent explosions and fires at onshore production, processing, and refining facilities." ... more