Common Legal Issues Affecting the Refining Industry

摘要

As discussed in the May/June issue of Inspectioneering Journal, some involvement with legal issues is inevitable for individuals and companies in the refining, manufacturing, transportation, and energy industries. Many operators and their personnel are often lulled into complacency when litigation or enforcement actions have been rare at their facilities. They fail to remain cognizant of the fact that acceptance of the status quo is not sufficient protection from future legal risk and liability. In order to best protect the public, your personnel, your company, and the industry, you must continually scrutinize your operation to ensure you are evaluating and minimizing the potential for legal liabilities. To protect legal problems from surfacing, it is important that one appreciates how and from whom certain liabilities may arise. All may trigger the need for legal support in various areas of business. While contract disputes and employment law actions seem to be the most often encountered and considered, regulatory proceedings by state or federal agencies resulting from an incident or government inspection or investigation must also be high on the radar of those in industry, with an understanding of the potential civil or criminal litigation which may follow.