Says Senator Judy Seeberger’s Measure Would Help Prevent Accidents Like Incident in March at Marathon Oil in St. Paul Park
SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic (DFL-Minneapolis) said today that Senate has passed Senator Judy Seeberger’s (DFL-Afton) bill to require contract workers at Minnesota petroleum refineries to have safety training and apprenticeships to help prevent serious injuries to the workers and the community.
Majority Leader Dziedzic said the bill recognizes that refineries are inherently dangerous places to work, and that safety training can help prevent accidents like the one at Marathon Refinery in St. Paul Park last month. On March 20, the facility had to be evacuated after approximately 20,000 gallons of hot asphalt leaked from a tank during maintenance repairs, severely injuring two workers who were taken to a hospital.
“Senator Seeberger’s bill is critically important because it will keep working men and women who are contractors at Minnesota refineries safe by requiring safety training and registered apprenticeships,” said Majority Leader Dziedzic. “These apprenticeships have proven to be extremely effective in preventing accidents like the one we saw just last month at Marathon Refinery in St. Paul Park.”
Sen. Seeberger’s bill requires owners or operators of a petroleum refinery use contractors with minimum percentages of apprenticed workers for all positions at a refinery with apprenticeship programs. Those percentages would start at 30% and would phase in at higher levels.
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