Washington, DC - Congressman Al Green (TX-09), today, released the following statement regarding the tragic death of a contract worker at the BP Refinery in Texas City, who was electrocuted Tuesday while working on an idle unit that was being reconditioned for a restart.

“The news of the death of 44 year old Richard Liening of Texas City is extremely troubling.  It is imperative that OSHA and all responsible parties complete a thorough investigation into what caused the death of this hard-working American.  It is imperative that “all” workers are afforded the same level of safety, whether they be contract workers or otherwise.  I am urging a thorough investigation into the causes which may be putting contract workers in harm’s way at a higher rate than other workers.  Mr. Lienening’s death reminds us that, despite the strides we have made to protect our workers, an American worker is killed on the job every 96 minutes.” stated Congressman Green.  “It is time to protect all of America’s workers equally.  Contract workers make up to ½ of the refinery workforce and under current law it is perceived that companies cannot be held criminally liable for the deaths of employees of contract firms. This means that under current law significant numbers of America’s workers could be considered unprotected due to a perceived lack of criminal sanctions.  Employers should not be capable of ignoring the real issue of improving overall safety by simply hiring a contract worker to do a dangerous job - it is time to end the possibility of including the cost of human life into the bottom line of doing business.”

“Just two weeks ago, in response to another tragedy at BP- the death of 15 contract workers in 2005, I introduced Equal Protection for All Workers Act, with the support of 11 of my colleagues. This legislation would specifically include employees of a contract firm in the current statute so that ANY employer that willfully violates OSHA standards unequivocally may be held criminally accountable if the violation leads to the death of ANY employee under contract,” continued Congressman Green.  “It is my sincere hope that we can pass this piece of legislation to make certain that the government has the legal authority to take whatever action it deems necessary to provide justice and protection for “all” American workers and their families.  By taking this step to protect all of America’s workers equally, employers will not be allowed to ignore the real issue of improving overall safety.”