BP admitted last night that it had fallen short of safety standards after the death of another worker at its Texas City refinery this week. William Joe Garcia, an operations supervisor with 32 years’ experience, died on Monday in the third fatality at the refinery since a massive blast nearly three years ago claimed 15 lives.

Late last year BP paid out $370 million (£188 million) in fines related to those deaths.

A spokesman for BP said that the group’s safety standards were “not where we want to be”, despite a $1 billion programme of safety improvements, including a six-month shutdown.

The latest accident, which happened after a metal lid blew off a pressurised water filtration unit and hit Mr Garcia as he prepared to put it back into service, emphasises the safety issues that have dogged one of the world’s biggest oil companies in the past few years.

The spokesman said that the company was investigating the accident. He said: “Our efforts have been ongoing and we have succeeded in driving safety levels. Our overall safety performance in 2007 will be the best ever.” He said that the company had taken significant action since the 2005 disaster, which happened when leaked gas ignited.

However, critics of BP rounded on the company, asserting that the latest death was symptomatic of a lax approach to safety.

“Despite what they’re doing to improve safety, fatalities are still happening,” Brent Coon, the lawyer representing the victims of the 2005 disaster, said. “The company is desensitised to the risks these people are working with.” He claimed that BP would chalk up Mr Garcia’s death as a “small price to pay for doing business” and that the company’s safety record, of one fatality a year, was the same now as it was before 2005.

Mr Coon said that more accidents at Texas City were likely while BP reduced staff and used old equipment.

The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) confirmed last night that it was on site and had started a full investigation. “In light of what’s happened in the past at BP, our investigation will be very thorough,” a spokeswoman said. She added that OSHA would conduct interviews with witnesses and look into possible faulty equipment.

A Texas City union official who asked not to be named said that the industry faced danger every day but that he believed safety at BP was improving.

“Safety might not be where we want it to be now, but it’s a long process,” he said. “You can’t take a refinery like Texas City and fix it in two years.”

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