The Texaco incident

✍ Scribed by J. Whitman Hoff

• Book ID: 104748338
• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 428 KB
• Volume: 6
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0167-4544
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00382893

✦ Synopsis

The topic of this paper concerns corporate responsibility and worker safety. In particular it focuses on the notions of willing and intending and how these relate to risk-taking in the workplace. I discuss the metaphysical status of the corporation, the distinction between willing and intending and the motivations of each, and Austin's distinction between accidents and mistakes in light of a single industrial accident which occurred at the Texaco Oil Refinery, Port Arthur, Texas, in October, 1982. My aim is to argue that corporations do not alleviate themselves from moral responsibility in the workplace solely because they might not intend to produce harm in a given situation.

On the morning of October 13, 1982, several workers at the Port Arthur, Texas, Texaco Oil Refinery began start-up procedures on Number One Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit ( # 1 FCCU) which had been apparently shut down for maintenance. Additional workers and maintenance people were present. After approximately one-half hour of operation, workers noticed a clog in the catalyst line. Shortly thereafter, a 48", 6' in diameter, pipe line split open and spewed 350-400 tons of chemical powder heated to 1200 degrees Fahrenheit onto them, killing five men and seriously injuring four others. The final determination of the accident found that the C-8 catalyst line was inadequate (e.g., bleeders at the