Imperial Sugar Co. like most food companies is a VERY big contributor to Saxby Chambliss's $4,000,000.00 war chest. The politically connected often get a free ride with OSHA.
Federal officials have weighed in on the Imperial Sugar Co. explosion near Savannah that killed 13 people, and the penalty is one of the stiffest in U.S. history: an $8.7 million fine for the explosion and for numerous safety violations at a sister plant in Louisiana.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration says Imperial Sugar wasn't complying with government standards. Imperial Sugar's CEO says OSHA has long overlooked risks at the plants -- including the combustible sugar dust that supposedly fueled the explosion.
While the differing sides toss the hot potato of blame back and forth -- and until we learn definitively if OSHA's assertions are true -- one thing shouldn't be lost sight of: At least such governmental oversight exists to help keep workers safe.
OSHA perhaps comes in second only to the Internal Revenue Service in terms of being a titanic pain in the neck -- that pain coming from being strangled by red tape. But, like the IRS, OSHA provides much-needed accountability to some companies that can't resist cutting corners.
Regulations seem strict, but consider the alternative: the world of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle . Under-regulation has its own pitfalls.
Comments
Imperial Sugar Co. like most food companies is a VERY big contributor to Saxby Chambliss's $4,000,000.00 war chest. The politically connected often get a free ride with OSHA.
If they get such a free ride, how come they are having to pay so much? This is just the fine, they still have to pay for those who were in the hospital, those killed, and those now out of work!
DeborahElliott2--If you read a national newspaper you will see that Imperial's OSHA inspections prior to the explosion were inadequate. I am sorry for the confusion.
This is why in another thread when someone said we could put up Nuclear reactors up alot faster without regulation I balked at them. The person said that companies would want to build things properly for their own sake. You would think so, but Imperial Sugar is just another example proving the opposite.
A nuclear reactor explosion would kill a whole lot more than 13. But hey, let's not split hairs
Exactly, which is why there is government regulation, and why people who argue that it slows things down too much should watch what they say.
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