OSHA Cites Pipeline Contractor After Fatal Drilling Incident -- Occupational Health & Safety

Horizontal directional drilling machine.

OSHA Cites Pipeline Contractor After Fatal Drilling Incident

T & T Pipeline faces $165,514 in proposed penalties after a rotating pipe stem fatally struck a worker in Florida.

By Chelsey Arries
Sep 24, 2026

An Orlando-based pipeline contractor faces a willful OSHA citation and $165,514 in proposed penalties following a worker’s death at a New Smyrna Beach, Florida, job site.

OSHA investigators found that T & T Pipeline Co. Inc. employees were changing a drill bit on a horizontal drilling machine when the pipe stem started rotating and fatally struck one worker.

The agency cited the company for exposing employees to struck-by hazards while working on the horizontal directional drilling machine, according to the department’s release.

About the Author

Chelsey Arries is assistant editor for Security Today, Campus Security Today, Occupational Health & Safety and Environmental Protection Online.

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