HOUSTON (Legal Newsline) -- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration says it is citing the Piping Technology and Products Inc. for nine serious violations.
One day after the March 14 announcement, PTP responded to OSHA's claims. OSHA claims the company exposed workers were being exposed to "excessive noise levels and other hazards."
"We (Piping Technology & Products) operate a safe workplace for its employees," PTP Vice President R. K. Agrawal said in a written statement. "We take the safety and health of each and every member of our team very seriously and we think the facts and our record reflect that.
"While we have just received them and are still studying them, we disagree with the conclusions of the citations and proposed fines. We look forward to working with OSHA to resolve our differences."
He said the company is contesting all of the citations. It has entered into a resolution process with the Department of Labor.
"We are very proud of our history of creating over 600 manufacturing jobs in Houston while competing against aggressive, low-cost manufacturers from China and Taiwan," Agrawal's statement continued. "We are also proud to have achieved this while manufacturing has declined from 22 percent to 10 percent of the US economy and more US companies are sending manufacturing jobs overseas.
"In our 30-plus-year history, Piping Technology has succeeded by taking a long-term view and safety is and has always been one of our core values. We've never held back when it's come to investing time or money to maintain the safety of our employees."
OSHA has proposed penalties totaling $118,000. It maintained that PTP failed to establish and maintain a hearing conservation program for workers exposed to noise levels exceeding 85 decibels. Other violations included not ensuring the use of hearing protection, ear plugs or ear muffs; not performing personal protective equipment assessments; and not properly labeling chemical containers.
PTP has been in business since 1975. The company was founded by Dr. Durga Agrawal.