Pipe Manufacturer Cited by OSHA Following Death of Worker at Arkansas Facility

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Welspun Tubular LLC with one willful and two serious violations following the death of a worker at the company’s Little Rock, Ark., facility.

“This company has been cited by OSHA twice in a six-month period for jeopardizing the safety of its employees,” said Carlos Reynolds, director of the agency’s Little Rock Area Office. “It is tragic that the employer’s negligence has resulted in the death of a worker.”

OSHA’s Little Rock office initiated a safety inspection on Dec. 22, 2010, at the company’s facility on Frazier Pike following a report that a worker was crushed to death by being caught between two pipes on a conveyor. The Mumbai, India-based company is a worldwide pipe manufacturer that employs more than 20,000 workers globally, with about 400 at the Little Rock facility.

The willful citation was issued for failing to provide the required machine guarding to ensure workers are protected from being caught between pipes on a conveyor while the pipes are being manufactured.

Serious safety violations include failing to ensure open floor holes were repaired to protect workers from falling.

Based on a separate inspection that preceded this fatality, in January, OSHA cited Welspun Tubular for serious and other-than-serious safety and health violations for a variety of workplace hazardous conditions. Those violations carried penalties totaling $88,000.

For the violations cited following the latest inspection, proposed penalties total $82,100.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director in Little Rock or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Source: OSHA