Regulators have fined Jay-Bee Oil & Gas more than $73,000 after finding the same kinds of violations in Harrison County that inspectors found a year ago when they visited the site.  The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued 10 repeat citations, three serious citations and four other citations last week for problems at a drilling site near Salem.

“This company’s failure to correct previously cited violations means that it continues to place workers in harm’s way,” said Prentice Cline, director of OSHA’s Charleston area office. “It is vital that the company address these hazards to protect its employees.”

The repeat citations are based on an OSHA inspection conducted in February. They included the lack of guardrails or barricades around drilling pits, tripping hazards on walkways and the lack of first-aid equipment and training at the operation. OSHA inspectors also found that the company did not provide workers with required information or training about the hazardous materials used at the operation.

Jay-Bee Oil & Gas of Union, New Jersey,  has drilled dozens of wells in West Virginia.  The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, ask for an informal conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

At least four workers have died at Marcellus Shale sites in Pennsylvania since 2008, including Kerry Duncan of Roane County, WV, who died on July 22nd. And, two of the three workers burned on February 10th at a Chesapeake drilling site in Washington County, PA, were West Virginians. In fact, there have been around 50 emergencies reported at Marcellus shale gas operations in Pennsylvania since 2008.  OSHA and the various companies of the natural gas industry are including safety training in many cases for their employees, given the dangerous nature of the work involved.