Pipe Maker Is Fined Over Safety Violations
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) yesterday announced that it has levied fines of $196,000 against sewer and water pipe manufacturer McWane Incorporated for the latest violations documented at its Tyler Pipe facility. The subject of a series of articles by the New York Times earlier this year on its outrageous workplace safety practices (see WIT for march 11, 2003), McWane Inc. has since 1995 amassed a record of over 4,600 workplace injuries 400 OSHA violations, and three workers killed through willful safety violations. Citing this heinous record, the AFL-CIO's director of health and safety has said that the fines are a "slap on the wrist" for the thirteen serious violations, four repeat violations, and one other violation OSHA found during its most recent investigation of Tyler Pipe.