DOL Settles with Mississippi Manufacturer Following Worker Fatality
Jindal Tubular USA has settled with the Department of Labor over a fatal workplace incident, agreeing to pay penalties and implement significant safety reforms.
- By Robert Yaniz Jr.
- Nov 27, 2024
The U.S. Department of Labor finalized a settlement with Mississippi-based Jindal Tubular USA LLC, requiring the steel pipe manufacturer to address safety lapses linked to the January 2024 death of a 25-year-old worker and critical injuries sustained by a 20-year-old colleague.
Following an OSHA investigation, the company has agreed to withdraw its challenge to citations and pay $442,815 in penalties. Inspectors found that Jindal Tubular failed to secure stacked pipes properly, leading to a 2,000-pound collapse. This incident marks one of several safety violations identified at the company’s Bay Saint Louis facility.
OSHA cited Jindal Tubular for 29 violations, including three repeat violations such as failing to guard machinery and neglecting to inspect electrical insulating gloves. Additional issues included unguarded fall hazards, combustible dust accumulation and improperly marked exit doors. Since 2019, Jindal Tubular has accrued 46 violations.
“Jindal Tubular’s repeated failure to provide employees with a safe workplace has been truly disturbing,” OSHA Area Office Director Courtney Bohannon in Jackson, Mississippi, said in a statement. “We hope this settlement signals a new willingness to make employee safety the centerpiece of its operations.”
Under the agreement, Jindal Tubular must hire a third-party safety consultant within 30 days to create and implement a comprehensive safety plan, conduct monthly audits and upgrade electrical systems in high-risk areas. The company will also provide stacking yard employees with safety training, employ a certified safety professional for every shift and report injuries to OSHA quarterly for three years.
About the Author
Robert Yaniz Jr. is the Content Editor of Occupational Health & Safety.