SHELL OIL COMPANY
NORCO REFINERY PO BOX 10, Norco, LA 70079 · NAICS 324110 Petroleum Refineries
Having inspection records is common for businesses in regulated industries. Data and methodology
Inspection records
Aug 23, 1994#110417029Aug 23, 1994Referral (C) · Partial scope, Safety#110417029$201,60020 viol.20 violations$201,600 in penalties
Inspection #110417029
Dates
- Opened
- Aug 23, 1994
- Closing Conference Date
- Feb 7, 1995
- Closed
- Dec 20, 1996
Inspection
- Advance Notice
- No
- Owner Type
- Private
- Union Status
- Yes
- Number of Employees
- 1,620
- Related Activity
- 1 referral
Violations and Penalties
- Total Violations
- 20
- Violation Types
- 20 unclassified
- Initial Penalties
- $201,600
- Penalties on Record
- $201,600
- Site Address
- 1205 River Rd, Norco, LA 70079
- Industry
- 324110 Petroleum Refineries
Referral Inspection: This inspection record is categorized as a referral inspection in the DOL OSHA enforcement data. Referral inspections can result from another agency, another OSHA activity, or another source referring a potential hazard to OSHA.
Violations
Violation list (5 of 20 shown)
| Citation | Standard | Type | Instances | Exposed | Initial | Current | Abatement | Contest | Final Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01001 | 5A0001 General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) | Unclassified | 1 | - | $0 | $0 | Feb 22, 1995 | - | - |
| 01002 | 1904.4 Recording Criteria | Unclassified | 3 | 162 | $0 | $0 | Feb 22, 1995 | - | - |
| 01003 | 1910.119 Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals OSHA citation code: 19100119 F01 | Unclassified | 14 | 30 | $0 | $0 | Feb 22, 1995 | - | - |
| 01004 | 1910.119 Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals OSHA citation code: 19100119 F01 IB | Unclassified | 1 | 30 | $0 | $0 | May 1, 1995 | - | - |
| 01005 | 1910.119 Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals OSHA citation code: 19100119 F01 IG | Unclassified | 1 | 30 | $0 | $0 | Jun 1, 1995 | - | - |
Showing the 5 violations listed first by citation identifier. This inspection has 20 total violations documented in the U.S. Department of Labor OSHA enforcement database. The complete violation list is available at enforcedata.dol.gov.
Aug 23, 1994#110342375Aug 23, 1994Planned (H) · Partial scope, Safety#110342375$00 viol.0 violations$0 in penalties
Inspection #110342375
Dates
- Opened
- Aug 23, 1994
- Closing Conference Date
- Feb 8, 1995
- Closed
- Feb 8, 1995
Inspection
- Advance Notice
- No
- Owner Type
- Private
- Union Status
- Yes
- Number of Employees
- 1,620
Violations and Penalties
- Total Violations
- 0
- Initial Penalties
- $0
- Penalties on Record
- $0
- Site Address
- 1205 River Rd, Norco, LA 70079
- Industry
- 324110 Petroleum Refineries
Planned Inspection: This inspection record is categorized as a planned inspection in the DOL OSHA enforcement data. Planned inspections are part of OSHA's scheduled enforcement activity rather than being opened directly from a complaint or reported incident at that worksite.
Sep 22, 1993#107636193Sep 22, 1993Complaint (B) · Partial scope, Safety#107636193$00 viol.0 violations$0 in penalties
Inspection #107636193
Dates
- Opened
- Sep 22, 1993
- Closing Conference Date
- Sep 22, 1993
- Closed
- Sep 22, 1993
Inspection
- Advance Notice
- No
- Owner Type
- Private
- Union Status
- Yes
- Number of Employees
- 1,650
- Related Activity
- 1 complaint
Violations and Penalties
- Total Violations
- 0
- Initial Penalties
- $0
- Penalties on Record
- $0
- Site Address
- 1205 River Rd, Norco, LA 70079
- Industry
- 324110 Petroleum Refineries
Complaint Inspection: This inspection record is categorized as a complaint inspection in the DOL OSHA enforcement data. OSHA can open complaint-driven inspections after receiving safety or health complaints from workers or their representatives.
Nov 18, 1991#108768151Nov 18, 1991Complaint (B) · Partial scope, Health#108768151$00 viol.0 violations$0 in penalties
Inspection #108768151
Dates
- Opened
- Nov 18, 1991
- Closing Conference Date
- Nov 19, 1991
- Closed
- Nov 19, 1991
Inspection
- Advance Notice
- No
- Owner Type
- Private
- Union Status
- Yes
- Number of Employees
- 1,750
- Related Activity
- 1 complaint
Violations and Penalties
- Total Violations
- 0
- Initial Penalties
- $0
- Penalties on Record
- $0
- Site Address
- 1205 River Rd, Norco, LA 70079
- Industry
- 324110 Petroleum Refineries
Complaint Inspection: This inspection record is categorized as a complaint inspection in the DOL OSHA enforcement data. OSHA can open complaint-driven inspections after receiving safety or health complaints from workers or their representatives.
May 5, 1988#101621209May 5, 1988Accident (A) · Partial scope, Health#101621209$00 viol.0 violations$0 in penalties
Inspection #101621209
Dates
- Opened
- May 5, 1988
- Closing Conference Date
- Sep 20, 1988
- Closed
- Apr 24, 1995
Inspection
- Advance Notice
- No
- Owner Type
- Private
- Union Status
- Yes
- Number of Employees
- 1,650
Violations and Penalties
- Total Violations
- 0
- Initial Penalties
- $0
- Penalties on Record
- $0
- Site Address
- 1205 River Rd, Norco, LA 70079
- Industry
- 324110 Petroleum Refineries
Accident Inspection: This inspection record is categorized as an accident inspection in the U.S. Department of Labor OSHA enforcement data. Employers must report work-related fatalities within 8 hours, and work-related inpatient hospitalizations, amputations, or losses of an eye within 24 hours. An accident-related inspection does not by itself determine fault.
May 5, 1988#100478866May 5, 1988FatalityAccident (A) · Partial scope, SafetyFatality#100478866$3,6304 viol.4 violations$3,630 in penalties
Inspection #100478866
Dates
- Opened
- May 5, 1988
- Closing Conference Date
- Sep 20, 1988
- Closed
- Aug 23, 1994
Inspection
- Advance Notice
- No
- Owner Type
- Private
- Union Status
- Yes
- Number of Employees
- 1,650
- Related Activity
- 1 accident
Violations and Penalties
- Total Violations
- 4
- Violation Types
- 4 serious
- Initial Penalties
- $3,630
- Penalties on Record
- $3,630
- Site Address
- 1205 River Rd, Norco, LA 70079
- Industry
- 324110 Petroleum Refineries
Accident Inspection: This inspection record is categorized as an accident inspection in the U.S. Department of Labor OSHA enforcement data. Employers must report work-related fatalities within 8 hours, and work-related inpatient hospitalizations, amputations, or losses of an eye within 24 hours. An accident-related inspection does not by itself determine fault.
Incident Investigation Summaries
Incident investigation summaries linked to this inspection through OSHA's accident and injury enforcement data. These summaries describe the reported incident. The enforcement outcome for the linked inspection is in the inspection details above.
Eight employees killed, 18 injured in refinery explosion
Violations
Violation list (4 of 4 shown)
| Citation | Standard | Type | Instances | Exposed | Initial | Current | Abatement | Contest | Final Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01001 | 5A0001 General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) | Serious | 1 | 20 | $1,000 | $1,000 | Apr 27, 1989 | - | - |
| 01002 | 5A0001 General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) | Serious | 1 | 20 | $1,000 | $1,000 | Apr 27, 1989 | - | - |
| 01003 | 5A0001 General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) | Serious | 1 | 20 | $1,000 | $1,000 | Apr 27, 1989 | - | - |
| 01004 | 1910.132 Personal Protective Equipment - General Requirements OSHA citation code: 19100132 A | Serious | 1 | 3 | $630 | $630 | Nov 4, 1988 | - | - |
Jan 12, 1988#100829357Jan 12, 1988FatalityUnprogrammed Related (G) · Partial scope, SafetyFatality#100829357$00 viol.0 violations$0 in penalties
Inspection #100829357
Dates
- Opened
- Jan 12, 1988
- Closing Conference Date
- Jan 14, 1988
- Closed
- Jan 20, 1988
Inspection
- Advance Notice
- Yes
- Owner Type
- Private
- Union Status
- Yes
- Number of Employees
- 1,600
- Related Activity
- 1 accident
Violations and Penalties
- Total Violations
- 0
- Initial Penalties
- $0
- Penalties on Record
- $0
- Site Address
- 1205 River Rd, Norco, LA 70079
- Industry
- 324110 Petroleum Refineries
Unprogrammed Related Inspection: This inspection record is categorized as an unprogrammed related inspection in the DOL OSHA enforcement data. The public DOL category label is preserved here without adding extra interpretation beyond the government label.
Incident Investigation Summaries
Incident investigation summaries linked to this inspection through OSHA's accident and injury enforcement data. These summaries describe the reported incident. The enforcement outcome for the linked inspection is in the inspection details above.
Truck driver killed when struck by backing truck
Dec 28, 1987#101019990Dec 28, 1987Unprogrammed Related (G) · Partial scope, Health#101019990$00 viol.0 violations$0 in penalties
Inspection #101019990
Dates
- Opened
- Dec 28, 1987
- Closing Conference Date
- Mar 3, 1988
- Closed
- Apr 18, 1988
Inspection
- Advance Notice
- No
- Owner Type
- Private
- Union Status
- Yes
- Number of Employees
- 1,600
- Related Activity
- 1 complaint
Violations and Penalties
- Total Violations
- 0
- Initial Penalties
- $0
- Penalties on Record
- $0
- Site Address
- 1205 River Rd, Norco, LA 70079
- Industry
- 324110 Petroleum Refineries
Unprogrammed Related Inspection: This inspection record is categorized as an unprogrammed related inspection in the DOL OSHA enforcement data. The public DOL category label is preserved here without adding extra interpretation beyond the government label.
Chemical Exposure Sampling1 substance sampled
Air monitoring samples collected by OSHA during this inspection. Results grouped by substance.
| Substance | Samples | Result Range | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benzene | 8 | 0 | ppm |
Jan 15, 1986#101808699Jan 15, 1986Follow-Up (F) · Partial scope, Safety#101808699$00 viol.0 violations$0 in penalties
Inspection #101808699
Dates
- Opened
- Jan 15, 1986
- Closing Conference Date
- Jan 15, 1986
- Closed
- Jan 17, 1986
Inspection
- Advance Notice
- No
- Owner Type
- Private
- Union Status
- Yes
- Number of Employees
- 1,800
Violations and Penalties
- Total Violations
- 0
- Initial Penalties
- $0
- Penalties on Record
- $0
- Site Address
- Mile 126 River Rd, Norco, LA 70079
- Industry
- 324110 Petroleum Refineries
Follow-Up Inspection: This inspection record is categorized as a follow-up inspection in the DOL OSHA enforcement data. Follow-up inspections are used by OSHA after earlier enforcement activity and can be used to check later compliance status.
Oct 7, 1985#100258524Oct 7, 1985Complaint (B) · Partial scope, Safety#100258524$1,0001 viol.1 violation$1,000 in penalties
Inspection #100258524
Dates
- Opened
- Oct 7, 1985
- Closing Conference Date
- Oct 7, 1985
- Closed
- Jan 15, 1986
Inspection
- Advance Notice
- No
- Owner Type
- Private
- Union Status
- Yes
- Number of Employees
- 1,800
- Related Activity
- 1 complaint
Violations and Penalties
- Total Violations
- 1
- Violation Types
- 1 willful
- Initial Penalties
- $1,000
- Penalties on Record
- $1,000
- Site Address
- Mile 126 River Rd, Norco, LA 70079
- Industry
- 324110 Petroleum Refineries
Complaint Inspection: This inspection record is categorized as a complaint inspection in the DOL OSHA enforcement data. OSHA can open complaint-driven inspections after receiving safety or health complaints from workers or their representatives.
Violations
Violation list (1 of 1 shown)
| Citation | Standard | Type | Instances | Exposed | Initial | Current | Abatement | Contest | Final Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01001 | 1904.2 Partial Exemption for Establishments in Certain Industries OSHA citation code: 19040002 A | Willful | 20 | 1,800 | $1,000 | $1,000 | Jan 7, 1986 | - | - |
Penalty amounts may differ from final amounts after settlement or judicial review. How to read these records
About these records
A company page groups inspections with the same normalized employer name, city and state; it is not a legal-entity identifier (how pages are grouped).
This page displays public OSHA enforcement data. Status text follows the DOL inspection record first and may include citation-level context when the inspection feed and citation records are out of sync. Penalty amounts shown reflect the latest penalty amounts on record in the DOL database and may differ from initial assessments or final amounts. This is not an official OSHA resource.
OSHA's public enforcement data does not publish a "guilty" or "not guilty" field for inspections. The closest outcome fields available are the citation counts, penalty amounts, contest dates, final-order dates, and the inspection close date shown on this page. How to interpret these status fields. How initial and current penalties are recorded.
OSHA may publish multiple citation rows in the same inspection with the same standard and penalty fields. Separate rows can still differ in OSHA metadata such as citation identifier, recorded instance count, exposed workers, or gravity value. Contest and Final Order columns show citation-level dates from OSHA's enforcement record. A dash means OSHA's record does not currently show that activity for the citation.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor OSHA incident investigation data (`osha_accident` + `osha_accident_injury`). Linked via `rel_insp_nr` to the inspection activity number (exact government key). Injury, body part, source and event values are OSHA's own codes. OSHA states that these fields are not coded according to the requirements under the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS). Only the values present in the OSHA record are listed; an incident with no value that resolves in OSHA's code table shows "Injury details not recorded". Where a record covers several people, each field lists every value recorded across them.
Source: OSHA chemical exposure sampling data (OSHA Information System). P = Personal (worker breathing zone), A = Area (general air). Rows marked QC are analytical quality control measurements, not chemical exposures. OSHA PEL (Permissible Exposure Limit) values from the OSHA Occupational Chemical Database, matched via IMIS substance code (analyte code) (exact government key).
Understanding These Penalties
The maximum penalty for a serious violation in 2025 is $16,550 per violation. For willful violations, the range is $11,823 to $165,514. The current penalty column shows the latest amount on record in OSHA's database for each citation. When the current penalty differs from the initial penalty, OSHA's records show that the amount changed during the enforcement process, but this page does not determine the specific reason for each change. Penalty amounts are set by OSHA and adjusted annually for inflation.
21 inspections, 1972 to 1994. Each row is one inspection; point at or tap a row for its dates and totals.
Source: DOL OSHA enforcement data (inspections and violations), linked via activity_nr (exact government key).
Penalty changes: Amounts shown reflect what OSHA's enforcement record publishes. The reason for any change is not stated unless OSHA's record explicitly says so.
Short cases: When a case closed soon after it opened, the closed marker is drawn slightly to the right so both markers stay visible. Each row's card shows the exact dates.
Standards cited
Chemical exposure sampling
Industry comparison
Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing, 2,503 employers with OSHA inspections. Arithmetic from DOL records.
BLS 2024 survey: petroleum refineries reported 0.4 injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers (total recordable cases, national, private industry; relative standard error 11.1%; NAICS 32411 level). This is an industry-wide average from a federal survey, not a measurement of this establishment. Source