BP agrees to oversee safety issues for fishermen

(CNN) BP has formally agreed to take responsibility for ensuring fishermen and other contract workers comply with federal safety guidelines as the massive oil spill clean-up continues in the Gulf.

Specifically, the company said it "will comply with all applicable OSHA and (Coast Guard) regulations, and to the extent it enters into contracts with such response contractors, BP will require those contractors and their subcontractors to comply" with the same regulations.

Thomas Bilek, a Houston attorney representing the fishermen, said "The significance is we are trying to make BP take some responsibility for maintaining safety for the fishermen, and make sure they are not being sent into areas that are unsafe, and BP is monitoring the area before they are being sent," Bilek told CNN.

Bilek said the fishermen are now following safety guidelines on their own, but with this agreement, BP is responsible for ensuring that federal safety rules are being met.

"It is expressly understood that response contractors may do their own worker exposure monitoring," the letter states. "BP will request that any such contractors provide such exposure monitoring to BP for handling as described above, and BP will not retaliate against any response contractors for doing their own exposure monitoring."

Scott Drake talks with attorney Thomas Bilek.