KERN OIL AND REFINING COMPANY
According to U.S. Department of Labor enforcement records, KERN OIL AND REFINING COMPANY — a manufacturing facility located at 7724 EAST PANAMA LANE, BAKERSFIELD, CA 93307 — was the subject of a formal OSHA inspection that resulted in 27 citation(s) and cumulative proposed penalties of $39,350.00. The inspection case was opened on 2004-06-04.
The volume of citations issued during this inspection suggests systematic compliance deficiencies rather than isolated incidents. Facilities with 10 or more citations typically face comprehensive abatement requirements and may be subject to follow-up inspections.
Industry Benchmark: The total penalty of $39,350.00 is more than 4.7× the national average of $8,414.32 for facilities in the Manufacturing sector (NAICS 324110). This sector encompasses 52,095 inspected facilities nationwide with aggregate penalties totaling $438.3M.
State Context: Within CA, this facility's penalty places it at the 99th percentile among 184,062 inspected facilities. The statewide average penalty is $3,010.44.
Citation Analysis: The inspection produced 27 citations spanning 0 distinct OSHA regulatory standards. The citation breakdown includes: 7 other-than-serious — The violation has a direct relationship to job safety and health but is unlikely to cause death or serious physical harm. 8 serious — A workplace hazard that could cause death or serious physical harm exists, and the employer knew or should have known about the condition.
Enforcement Timeline: Citations were issued beginning June 17, 2005 with the latest abatement deadline set for March 31, 2008. Of the 27 total citations, 9 (33%) have been marked as abated in DOL records, which may indicate ongoing compliance gaps requiring further regulatory attention.
Penalty Assessment: The cumulative penalty of $39,350.00 reflects OSHA's gravity-based penalty calculation methodology, which considers the severity of potential injury, the probability of occurrence, the employer's size, good faith, and violation history. The per-citation average of $1,457.41 falls within the standard penalty range.
The enforcement record for Kern Oil and Refining Company reveals a profound breakdown in Process Safety Management (PSM) protocols, specifically targeting the highly regulated petroleum refining sector. The concentration of citations under Title 8 CCR §5189 indicates a systemic failure to maintain the integrity of hazardous chemical processes rather than isolated mechanical lapses. Most significant was the $22,500 penalty associated with Operating Procedures (5189 F01), a figure that significantly exceeded industry averages for the period. This penalty level suggests that the facility lacked clear, written instructions for safe operations or failed to maintain up-to-date procedures for complex refinery tasks, directly increasing the risk of catastrophic release, fire, or explosion. The interplay between Serious (S) violations in Mechanical Integrity (5189 J) and Process Hazard Analysis (5189 E) underscores a dangerous disconnect between identifying risks and implementing technical safeguards. For refinery workers, these failures meant operating within a "high-hazard" environment where the physical barriers to chemical exposure and thermal incidents were not verified or maintained according to engineering standards. The sheer volume of PSM-related citations—spanning training, emergency planning, and mechanical reliability—points to a culture of administrative negligence. This pattern of non-compliance signaled a lack of oversight in the facility’s Quality Assurance programs, transforming routine refinery operations into high-risk events due to the absence of standardized safety controls.