Did anyone catch this week's episode of Last Week Tonight With John Oliver? His main story was about the increase in oil business up in North Dakota. He specifically went into details about a rig that exploded resulting in the immediate deaths of two workers, and another who committed suicide after struggling with his injuries and leg amputations. John was encouraging the audience to share outrage, not just over the deaths of the workers, but over the lack of responsibility and punishment levied against Oasis Petroleum. As he continues, however, he explains that Oasis employees were not present, nor killed, but instead the workers were employed by rig working companies subcontracted by Oasis. OSHA's investigation found that they were not all using proper equipment, I don't know if it was provided and ignored, or never implemented.
What got to me, though, was John's outrage that no Oasis employees were there. He said that is ridiculous, and furthermore, Oasis should have been more liable for the damages. I paused the show and turned to my wife and said that, obviously the deaths are tragic and should be preventable, but from my point of view, the subcontractor should be the one facing penalties. Why would Oasis need people physically there when that is what they are paying that contractor for? If that contractor isn't following OSHA standards, then they really need to be in a world of hurt. I don't remember the name of that company. I do know from friends who work for Halliburton and other companies in related fields, basically the company will come down on you quick for not following protocol. I don't really remember him coming down on the contractor once though. I also told my wife, that to me, it would be like if we paid someone to build us a house, and someone on the crew was injured while not wearing a helmet, why would we be blamed, and not the contractor who put them there? Or the guy not wearing it?
I know we have guys in related fields, and at least a few lawyers on here, so I wanted to see if any of you saw it, or had any opinions based on what you know. You may be able to find a story with more of the info by searching Brendan Wegner, as that was the main victim he covered.
Some of the other points were valid, I thought, like the lack of OSHA inspectors (8 for all of ND and SD according to John), and the slap on the wrist penalties for repeat spill offenders.
What got to me, though, was John's outrage that no Oasis employees were there. He said that is ridiculous, and furthermore, Oasis should have been more liable for the damages. I paused the show and turned to my wife and said that, obviously the deaths are tragic and should be preventable, but from my point of view, the subcontractor should be the one facing penalties. Why would Oasis need people physically there when that is what they are paying that contractor for? If that contractor isn't following OSHA standards, then they really need to be in a world of hurt. I don't remember the name of that company. I do know from friends who work for Halliburton and other companies in related fields, basically the company will come down on you quick for not following protocol. I don't really remember him coming down on the contractor once though. I also told my wife, that to me, it would be like if we paid someone to build us a house, and someone on the crew was injured while not wearing a helmet, why would we be blamed, and not the contractor who put them there? Or the guy not wearing it?
I know we have guys in related fields, and at least a few lawyers on here, so I wanted to see if any of you saw it, or had any opinions based on what you know. You may be able to find a story with more of the info by searching Brendan Wegner, as that was the main victim he covered.
Some of the other points were valid, I thought, like the lack of OSHA inspectors (8 for all of ND and SD according to John), and the slap on the wrist penalties for repeat spill offenders.
