ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 27, 1990                   TAG: 9004270241
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

TIGHTER PETROCHEMICAL SAFETY RULES PUSHED

The Labor Department announced Thursday it will propose new mandatory safety standards to reduce the "catastrophic potential" of a Bhophal-like accident in the American petrochemical industry.

Department officials said in a report to President Bush that they would press for the standards as a result of their investigation of the chemical explosion last fall at a Phillips Petroleum plant in Pasadena, Texas, that killed 23 workers and injured 130.

The standards would require companies to analyze health and safety hazards at more than 2,000 oil refineries, pesticide manufacturers and other petrochemical plants, inform employees of the hazards and develop emergency response procedures in the event of an accident.

The new regulations could be in place as early as this fall. There was no estimate of how much they will cost industry. - Washington Post 


 by CNB