LITTLE ROCK, AR - Little Rock police say two workers became trapped between pipes weighing nearly 20,000 pounds each at Welspun Tubular Tuesday night, killing one and injuring another. FOX16 News did some digging and uncovered records that show it is not the first serious incident at Welspun that has caused injury to an employee.
Work continues at Welspun off Frazier Pike Road in the Little Rock River Port Wednesday, less than 24 hours after an employee was killed after being pinned between two of the company's 19,000 pound pipes.
The pipes are manufactured for use in the oil and gas industry.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, Welspun has already had three safety complaints and an inspection since it opened in 2009.
The
inspection in February 2010 turned up work conditions "exposing employees to the hazard of entrapment" between pipes. Little Rock police confirmed Wednesday that is what killed Frederick Bogar, 61, of Jacksonville and injured William Durham, 38, of North Little Rock Tuesday night.
The complaints about work conditions started almost immediately after Welspun opened in early 2009.
One referral came just a day after the Mumbai based company celebrated its arrival in Arkansas in April 2009 with Governor Mike Beebe in attendance.
That complaint found “crane operating procedures weren't being followed.”
In October 2009
another complaint found four serious violations, with OSHA handing out over $10,000 in fines. One violation found that “employees had not received general training regarding the inspection, application and operation of aerial platforms. Specifically, employees were using the lift to access upper work levels,” the report reads. It adds an accident subsequently occurred. “The scissor lift was struck by the hoist resulting in the lift overturning. This condition exposed employees to a fall of approximately twenty feet.”
All the referrals lead OSHA to conduct its own inspection in February. According to records obtained from the U.S. Department of Labor, the inspection revealed an incident where a lift operator picked up a pipe with an employee inside.
“The employee's leg was caught between the pipe and the lift leading to severe leg injuries,” the report reads.
Welspun is saying virtually nothing about the accident last night or its safety record. Senior Vice President Richard Janicki told FOX16 News by phone that "an investigation is underway about what happened" but that he had no further comment.
According to Welspun, the company has poured in over $150 million into its Little Rock facility and employs over 500 workers. Welspun became a 24-hour facility in May.
