Wednesday marked one year since Max and Ben Morrissey suffered fatal injuries in an explosion at the former BP-Husky Toledo oil refinery.
The brothers died early on the morning of Sept. 21, 2022, at a University of Michigan medical facility in Ann Arbor. Max Morrissey was 34 and Ben was 32.
Max Morrissey had children ages 2 and 4 while Ben Morrissey was the father of a 2-year-old and a then-yet-unborn daughter who was born in May.
“I think it's a time to reflect on the huge safety issues that caused this problem and hopefully they were resolved so this never happens to any families anywhere in the world again,” Patty Morrissey, the mother of Max and Ben Morrissey, said in an interview.
Ms. Morrissey spoke Wednesday at the International Steelworkers Local 1-346 union hall on Consaul Street in East Toledo during a Day of Remembrance event held in honor of her two sons.
The Morrissey brothers were direct refinery workers and United Steelworkers. At least 150 fellow union members attended the day-long event by the mid-afternoon.
In May, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited a lack of training among 10 major violations at the former BP-Husky facility. The company has contested those findings.
The Morrissey brothers were killed while trying to correct rising liquid levels in a fuel gas mix drum when “a flammable vapor cloud formed, ignited, and then triggered an explosion,” an Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation report said.
Jim Witt, president of the steelworkers’ Local 1-346, said the union has worked with OSHA and Calgary-based Cenovus Energy, the refinery’s new owner, “on what went wrong and how we can prevent it from ever happening again.”
Bryan Sidel, financial secretary at Local 1-346, said the union has made progress with Cenovus in achieving safer working conditions at the refinery.
“I believe a lot has changed over the last year, with the [Cenovus] company starting to listen to what the [union] members are saying,” Mr. Sidel said. “They're more worker-friendly than BP was, they tend to listen a little better to what workers are telling them.”
OSHA had cited the refinery for 10 serious violations including a failure to address the hazards of overfilling certain process vessels in the plant, lack of training for its workers, and problems with implementing safe work practices during system “upset” conditions at the refinery.
“Today is a day [to be] together with the community and to thank them for all their time to provide for the [union] Local and to help us through the incident and help the families through the incident,” Mr. Witt said Wednesday.
Several attending union members expressed similar feelings.
“I just like to support the people involved,” Bob Hicks, a 13-year steelworkers’ member, said. “Everybody’s hurt over it, everybody – everybody at the plant, everybody in town, and the families.
“Everyone's decimated over it. And I just want to be here to support them and my coworkers and their families and the people in the community who have helped them.”
First Published September 20, 2023, 11:29 p.m.
