Kern Oil & Refining CO. safety record at a glance
Kern Oil & Refining CO. has been the subject of 19 Cal/OSHA inspections in California since 2000, opened between Jun 4, 2004 and Jul 17, 2025. 6 of them were planned inspections. 15 of them produced citations, 66 in all: 21 serious. Inspectors proposed $350,933 in penalties; after appeals and settlements the current total is $233,836. The largest single penalty, $37,126, came from an inspection opened Oct 19, 2017 in Bakersfield. 1 worker death was investigated. That places the employer at #83 of 122,854 California employers in the database by penalties.
Industry as coded by the inspecting office: Manufacturing. Worksites in Bakersfield.
Every inspection, newest first
Click a date for the citations in that inspection.
| Opened | City | Why | Result | Proposed | Penalty | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 17, 2025 | Bakersfield | Planned | 3 citations | $2,545 | $2,860 | Jun 18, 2026 |
| Apr 7, 2022 | Bakersfield | Accident | 1 citation 1 serious | $18,000 | $18,000 | Mar 13, 2023 |
| Apr 9, 2020 | Bakersfield | Accident | 1 citation 1 serious | $9,900 | $9,900 | Apr 21, 2022 |
| Feb 28, 2020 | Bakersfield | Accident | 3 citations 2 serious | $19,330 | $14,550 | Apr 26, 2021 |
| Apr 25, 2019 | Bakersfield | Planned | no citations | 0 | 0 | Jul 1, 2019 |
| Jul 19, 2018 | Bakersfield | Referral | 4 citations 2 serious | $39,950 | $30,385 | May 23, 2019 |
| Jan 19, 2018 | Bakersfield | Referral | 13 citations 2 serious | $52,600 | $35,400 | Sep 3, 2019 |
| Nov 8, 2017 | Bakersfield | Referral | 1 citation 1 serious | $25,000 | $25,000 | Aug 6, 2018 |
| Oct 19, 2017 | Bakersfield | Referral | 3 citations 1 serious | $43,200 | $37,126 | Apr 16, 2019 |
| Dec 27, 2013 | Bakersfield | Planned | no citations | 0 | 0 | Jun 25, 2014 |
| Apr 18, 2013 | Bakersfield | Planned | 17 citations 5 serious | $47,700 | $20,145 | Mar 9, 2016 |
| Mar 13, 2013 | Bakersfield | Planned | 3 citations | $14,060 | $1,120 | Mar 13, 2015 |
| Jul 7, 2009 | Bakersfield | Planned | no citations | 0 | 0 | Sep 24, 2009 |
| Dec 27, 2007 | Bakersfield | Complaint | 1 citation | $7,650 | $4,000 | Jul 10, 2008 |
| Sep 12, 2006 | Bakersfield | Referral | no citations | 0 | 0 | Oct 18, 2006 |
| Jun 28, 2006 | Bakersfield | Accident | 1 citation 1 serious | $6,750 | $280 | Dec 1, 2007 |
| Jun 25, 2005 | Bakersfield | Referral | 1 citation | $188 | 0 | Jul 18, 2008 |
| Jan 19, 2005 | Bakersfield | Accident | death 11 citations 5 serious | $62,475 | $33,795 | Jun 1, 2008 |
| Jun 4, 2004 | Bakersfield | Accident | 3 citations | $1,585 | $1,275 | Apr 21, 2006 |
Also recorded as: Kern Oil and Refining Company.
The rules this employer was cited under
- 8 CCR 5189: 21 citations, 6 serious, $43,035
- 8 CCR 5189.1: 17 citations, 6 serious, $97,586
- 8 CCR 5162, Emergency eyewash and shower: 3 citations, $1,330
- 8 CCR 5194, Hazard communication: 2 citations, $825
- 8 CCR 5157, Confined spaces: 2 citations, $750
- 8 CCR 3314, Lockout and cleaning of machinery: 2 citations, $560
- 8 CCR 3328, Machinery and equipment, general: 1 citation, 1 serious, $25,000
- 8 CCR 3220, Emergency action plan: 1 citation, 1 serious, $19,125
Accidents investigated
Local pages: Bakersfield employment lawyer.
How to read this record
Each row is one inspection by Cal/OSHA (or, rarely, federal OSHA) of one worksite. Why is the reason it was opened. Proposed is the penalty the inspector assessed; penalty is the current figure after any appeal or settlement. "Serious" means a realistic possibility of death or serious harm; "willful" and "repeat" carry penalties up to $162,851 each.
Citations document that the employer was told, in writing, what the rule required and when. That knowledge is often the center of a retaliation case: a worker who complained about the hazard an inspector later cited, and was then fired or cut, has a Labor Code 6310 claim, with lost wages and attorney's fees.
Full explainer: how to read a Cal/OSHA record.
If you work, or worked, at Kern Oil & Refining CO.
Write down what you reported, to whom and when, and what changed afterward: shifts, pay, duties, write-ups. Request the inspection file from the Cal/OSHA district office using the activity number on the inspection page. An injury goes through workers' compensation; a firing, demotion or threat after a safety complaint or injury report is an employment claim with a one-year deadline at the Labor Commissioner (Labor Code 6310) and a longer one in court. Free, confidential review: (800) 371-3088 or send what you have.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor OSHA enforcement data, California inspections. Record last checked Nov 1, 2026. Back to the safety tracker.
About this data: Records come from the U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA enforcement datasets (inspection, violation, accident and accident injury tables), which carry Cal/OSHA's state-plan inspections alongside federal ones. We load every inspection of a California worksite opened since January 1, 2000 and refresh it weekly. Employer names, addresses and industry codes are as the inspecting office recorded them; similar names are grouped where they clearly refer to the same employer. A citation can be reduced, vacated or withdrawn on appeal, and an inspection can stay open for months, so a record can change. Penalties shown as "current" reflect the latest status in the federal file. This page is public information about the employer's regulatory record, not legal advice and not a statement that any person was harmed or any law broken beyond what the record states.