There were major concerns being voiced by residents of cities that had an oil refinery in close proximity to their towns. They were concerned about the standards of safety at an oil refinery plant, because the refineries were located near a densely populated area. They were equally concerned about the present location of the refinery, and wondered if it would impede the progress of people exiting the city during an evacuation order. The voice of concern focused on whether the roads would become impassable if a chemical spill or explosion from the oil refinery plant occurred, thereby trapping them inside the city with no means of escape.

Since these issues have been mentioned, the policies have been changed to remedy those safety threats. To alleviate the fear for safety at an oil refinery, officials decided to move them away from urban areas whenever possible. Safety policies were developed that covered all forms of machinery operation throughout the refining plant, all construction that occurred during the course of a work day These policies were designed to meet the needs of anyone that worked at the oil refinery, and included contractors and sub-contracting firms as well.

The new safety policies dictated that each employee was required to take a class in safety at an oil refinery, as well as sign a document attesting to the fact that they received this safety training. Policies were established to outline the company policy for safety violation reporting procedures, and the negative effects of not adhering to company safety policies.

These company policies focused on safety at an oil refinery in the areas of safety person requirements, supervisor to worker ratios, a clear policy statement was provided to all employees as they entered the plant.

The policies went so far as to conduct safety performance standards checks on all contracted workers to ensure they were capable of ensuring safety at an oil refinery. They conducted safety meetings for each new contracted job crew, held safety review meetings, and published monthly safety reports so that everyone that worked at the refinery was aware of the safety at an oil refinery.

To ensure safety at an oil refinery, management established emergency procedures that clearly outline the actions for all people to take while working at the refinery. The emergency reporting procedures provided a ready reference source of information for employees to use for injury treatment, and the forms necessary to file Injury and Accident Reporting and Investigation Reports.

To further ensure safety at an oil refinery, they developed policies that outlined the fire prevention requirements of all people that worked at the oil refinery at any given time. Work site audits were routinely performed to ensure safety at an oil refinery. Contract workers fell under the fire prevention requirements, and audits were routinely conducted on their work performance.

The policies of safety at an oil refinery included the work practices that should be followed by employees when they were working on the processing equipment throughout the refinery. Personal protective equipment was issued to all new employees to ensure safety at an oil refinery. Routinely, the Occupational Safety and Heath Administration would conduct inspections to ensure that standards of safety at an oil refinery plant were being maintained.