Two workers were killed in an explosion last month at a Pascagoula, Miss., fertilizer factory. The explosion was the second in a specific part of the Mississippi Phosphates Corp. plant. OSHA is investigating both explosions. Jeffrey Simpson, 39, was killed on May 21. The company, based in Madison, Miss., said it is cooperating with all government agencies and gathering information to pinpoint the causes of both explosions. Mississippi Phosphates makes a widely used crop fertilizer known as diammonium phosphate, or DAP. Two other workers, Jeffrey Beck and Donnie Scudder, were injured and remained hospitalized.

In 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency cited the plant for improper safety equipment, improper storage, and chemical leaks on the ground. In February, the EPA and the company reached an agreement on corrective actions that company officials said would cost it about $2.5 million. OSHA says that the four serious violations it had identified in 2009 had been corrected, and that Mississippi Phosphates paid a fine of $5,000 for them.

Source: Insurance Journal