‘Safety first’ not always the case
It is tragic that such an event happened at the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, resulting in the tragic deaths of five and injuries to two other workers. [“Tesoro blast called fireball,” NWTuesday, April 6.]
What probably goes unnoticed is that many of the nation’s refineries and chemical plants are at least 30 years old and could pose an ever-present danger to some sort of industrial accident like the one here.
Although “safety first” is the mantra of these companies, when it comes down to retrofitting older equipment to increase output, safety is sometimes compromised. Even workers at these plants know the inherent dangers associated with their workplace, but are willing to take the risk because they are arning big bucks with a lot of overtime, among other benefits.
Sadly, as long as society craves the hundreds of byproducts that could be derived from refining or cooking crude oil at high temperatures and pressures, then demand could drive these plants to perhaps take short cuts on safety to meet production goals. When a fatality occurs, there is the usual soul-searching regarding what could have been done to prevent such a catastrophe and determining whom to blame.
— Robert Randle, Tacoma