Tyler Pipe Workers Note Changes For The Better
(Staff Photo By Herb Nygren Jr.)
Safeguards protect a Tyler Pipe worker.
By KENNETH DEAN
And GREG JUNEK
Staff Writers
Garbed in protective clothing, safety glasses, hard hats and ear plugs, workers at Tyler Pipe perform their jobs with a different attitude today than they did five years ago — when the company was labeled one of the most dangerous places to work in America.
And GREG JUNEK
Staff Writers
Garbed in protective clothing, safety glasses, hard hats and ear plugs, workers at Tyler Pipe perform their jobs with a different attitude today than they did five years ago — when the company was labeled one of the most dangerous places to work in America.
The employees are now happy to go to work. They claim there have been changes in the company’s safety, environmental policies, practices and the way the employees are treated on the local level and from the foundry’s parent company, McWane Inc. of Birmingham, Ala.
The plant is adequately lighted and yellow caution paint is everywhere. There are signs warning of dangers and several state-of-the-art laser systems that stop certain machinery from moving if the laser field is broken by a wandering employee. It is a far cry from the dank, dark, dungeonlike place described by employees in interviews in the past.
“When I first started here seven years ago I wanted to go home. It was not a good place to work,” David Tralar, employee and member of a companywide safety board, told the Tyler Courier-Times--Telegraph during a recent plant tour. “Back then I wouldn’t have recommended anyone working here, but there’s been a big turnaround here.”
The work is still hard and hot, but millions of dollars have been spent in safety equipment and company executives now have a reason to smile after years of federal investigations, fines and guilty pleas. They admit they have a long way to go.
“I wouldn’t say we’re there yet, but we’re well on our way,” Tyler Pipe Vice President and General Manager Rick Tatman said. “I gauge body language when I walk around. When you go into the plant — and foundry business is tough work — their body language shows they’re fairly happy with their jobs and like what they are doing. When they leave, there’s still a little liveliness to the step. It’s not like they gave their all that day.”
“I wouldn’t say we’re there yet, but we’re well on our way,” Tyler Pipe Vice President and General Manager Rick Tatman said. “I gauge body language when I walk around. When you go into the plant — and foundry business is tough work — their body language shows they’re fairly happy with their jobs and like what they are doing. When they leave, there’s still a little liveliness to the step. It’s not like they gave their all that day.”
FINES, DEATHS AND INJURIES
McWane executives say while there were truths in local and national media reports detailing the company’s problems with environmental and safety issues, injuries and even deaths, they believe they were painted in a negative light.
They added they were reluctant to speak to media about the changes that were already under way when the stories hit newspapers and television.
Earlier this decade, officials with Tyler Pipe and McWane were not forthcoming with information about accidents or fines assessed to the company for violating environmental laws. It was as though there was an iron curtain pulled tight around the perimeters of the foundry and the company as a whole.
Earlier this decade, officials with Tyler Pipe and McWane were not forthcoming with information about accidents or fines assessed to the company for violating environmental laws. It was as though there was an iron curtain pulled tight around the perimeters of the foundry and the company as a whole.
(Staff Photo By Herb Nygren Jr.)
Yellow guard rails, plastic shields, a hard hat, hearing protection and a face shield protect a worker as he grinds slag off a cast pipe on Feb. 19.
“We were probably a little gun-shy and felt like we were somewhat portrayed inaccurately and maybe with some bias and felt like we weren’t going to expose ourselves to more of the same,” said Tony Orlowski, Tyler Pipe North Plant assistant general manager.
A 2003 New York Times article about the foundry made statements such as “convicts are recruited from local prisons” and “it is said that only the desperate seek work at Tyler Pipe.”
A 2003 New York Times article about the foundry made statements such as “convicts are recruited from local prisons” and “it is said that only the desperate seek work at Tyler Pipe.”
McWane President G. Ruffner Page said this spoke poorly of the many hard workers who have dutifully reported to work for decades, some working for 50 years at the plant.
“There are a lot of good people at Tyler Pipe and using that was nothing more than hyping the story for the sake of hyping the story,” Page said.
“There are a lot of good people at Tyler Pipe and using that was nothing more than hyping the story for the sake of hyping the story,” Page said.
Page said the people with ankle monitors were not prisoners but those on parole the company was attempting to give a chance at starting their lives over.
He added that the Times did not use information provided by McWane on changes under way before the 2003 story was published.
Page granted an exclusive interview with the Tyler Paper on Friday in which he spoke about the history of the company and its current status.
He added that the Times did not use information provided by McWane on changes under way before the 2003 story was published.
Page granted an exclusive interview with the Tyler Paper on Friday in which he spoke about the history of the company and its current status.
Page said that by the time the stories hit the newsstands and airwaves, the changes within the company were well under way and the changes began in 2000.
In reference to Tyler Pipe, he said, “In the 18 months after I took over, it became clear that we were losing control of that plant both from a turnover standpoint of our employees, the head count, all the way down to the service level to our customers. So we, being me, started focusing heavily on what was going on there and why the deterioration was occurring.
The result was the top managers at the plant were relieved of their positions.
But the problems were already mounting, and Tyler Pipe was convicted of violating the Clean Air Act of 1977 and fined $4.5 million, the largest fine of its kind, in 2005. The company was also held accountable for several deaths and a series of incapacitating injuries at the foundry and fined repeatedly for safety violations through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
A broader look of McWane shows that five McWane Inc. employees were arrested at a New Jersey foundry, Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Co., in 2003 after a lengthy investigation by the U.S. Justice Department. In May 2004, the government arrested five top executives at McWane Cast Iron Pipe Co. of Birmingham, Ala.
Both investigations found evidence of obstruction of criminal and regulatory investigations by the EPA and OSHA.
Page said the company began having problems when it grew dramatically in the 1990s, tripling in size.
He said the company grew from 3,000 employees in 11 facilities to 25 facilities with 7,500 employees in about five years. And some of the companies were in bad shape and had been used as “cash cows” by the previous owners.
However, Page said the fault fell on McWane.
“It’s kind of like buying a used car. You don’t know what’s under the hood until you drive it for awhile. Listen, McWane is responsible for not having responded quickly enough, and I believe we should’ve made more investments sooner,” he said.
Page added that, because of the sudden expansion, some employees were placed into management — which turned out to be a mistake.
But how did the company make drastic changes?
NEW STRATEGIES
Page said McWane began by replacing 90 percent of the top managerial positions and installing new upper management with a clear goal in mind: To be the best in class in the industry.
“We’ve defined our goal to be best in class in our industry. We can’t be best against Intel because we’re not a software company,” he said.
Orlowski said Tyler Pipe began engaging employees in town hall-type meetings to help in the improvement effort.
“It’s no secret, and we knew ourselves, that we were not where we wanted to be,” Orlowski said, referring to the early 2000s at Tyler Pipe. “My first thought when I got here was that I felt like it wasn’t managed as well as we could manage it from a lot of different angles. Of course, when you come into a place when there’s been some turnover in top management that’s usually the top reason. Were we horrible? No we weren’t.”
Jeff Willman, group safety and health compliance director, added that when he joined the plant in 2001, “Essentially every workday we were having a lost-time event.”
Willman, Orlowski and Tyler Pipe South Plant Assi-stant General Manager Kent Brown were hired to initiate the changes at the Tyler facility.
The men said several committees were formed to address different aspects of safety, and those efforts resulted in physical changes that included pedestrian walkways, an initiative to install guards to prevent worker contact with dangerous machinery and improvement in the lockout-tagout procedure that prevents equipment from starting before employees are clear.
Other changes include emission control systems, storm water filtration, recycling initiatives, and an environmental management system.
From 2000 to 2007, Tyler Pipe increased its environmental health and safety staff from two to 20 employees. They include a group safety director, a night safety engineer, a safety training coordinator, safety interns, three emergency medical technicians, three environmental engineers, an environmental technician and a plant doctor.
The company reported it invested $115 million in capital improvement projects in Tyler alone. Of that amount, $40 million was spent on emergency-, health- and safety-related initiatives, and $37 million was spent on environmental and emission controls.
An accident history from October 2007, reported by the plant to OSHA and audited by a third party, shows a total recordable injury rate decreasing from 25.87 (25.87 injuries per 100 employees) in 2000 to 7.48 last year. The industry rate was 21.7 in 2000, and it stood at 17.1 in 2005, the latest year for which information was obtainable.
The plant boasts stretches of 163 days without a lost-time accident in 2006 and 175 days without such an accident last year.
“We are very proud of the fact that we’re below the industry rate on injuries and we now go for redundant safety here,” Willman said.
Phillip Brooks, a master electrician, worked at Tyler Pipe from 2001 until a layoff in 2006. He returned to work nearly two months ago. Brooks said conditions are vastly different than when he originally started work at the plant.
“They had some safety (rules and protection devices) but it wasn’t like what it is now,” he said. “A lot of people ignored safety rules and stuff, did things and didn’t lock out stuff, worked on equipment and they shouldn’t have been doing it the way they did it. But there have been a lot of changes; most of that has been addressed since then.”
According to Tyler Pipe reports, which were audited by a third party and reported to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, particulate matter has also decreased at the foundry.
High above the plant floor, a series of huge silver ducts carry potential pollutants to several bag houses on the property to reduce the particulate matter released into the atmosphere.
“This was one of many improvements made to help with the air quality,” Tatman said.
In addition to the physical changes, the plant assembled a community advisory panel composed of 14 local government, business, labor, law enforcement, religious, health and education leaders in Tyler and Smith County. The company began asking the panel for advice in how to interact with the community better.
Page said McWane is committed to this relationship with the communities and he heralds new initiatives such as recycling sand used in pipe production at Tyler Pipe to be used in road paving as being environmentally friendly.
BETTER WORKPLACE?
Tyler community leaders say that Tyler Pipe is an important part of the economic engine that ensures that jobs in other industries will continue.
A 2002 independent analysis of the plant’s economic impact concluded that the foundry supports more than 4,500 jobs and $614 million in economic activity throughout Texas. It has a $43 million annual payroll and purchases $45 million in materials and services locally.
The analysis concluded the company pays nearly $14 million annually on utilities and generates nearly $16 million in tax revenue for the area.
Tom Mullins, president and chief executive officer of the Tyler Economic Development Council, noted that, after the plant’s acquisition by McWane in the mid-1990s, the company scaled back a work force that at one time numbered about 2,400. Then some notable accidents occurred at the plant in the mid- to late 1990s.
Foundry work is dangerous, and the smaller work force was under pressure to produce as much as it could, which can contribute to accidents, he said.
But Mullins lauded McWane’s efforts to bring in people who put priority in safety and value, resulting in safety improvements and technology upgrades in the plant.
“The turnaround in the last seven years or so has really been remarkable,” Mullins said. “They’re probably one of the largest and most technically advanced foundries now in the United States.”
Orlowski said McWane has shown it supports U.S. jobs by keeping plants open when it would have been less expensive to ship the jobs overseas. He said Tyler Pipe’s south plant is the only remaining domestic manufacturer of ductile iron fittings.
“They definitely have a desire and pride in American jobs and keeping plants here in the United States,” he said.
Mullins agreed. With a new management team, and safety and environmental improvements in place, the company has shown “it is committed to Tyler for the long term.”
Derrick Miller, who works in iron transfer in the south plant, said he has seen changes since being hired in 2001.
“They communicate with the workers more,” he said. “The employees have more input into what goes on. They realigned management and they’ve got good people working in management and, of course, management is working good with the union, and everything rolls out to the employees.”
Miller said more warning signs and safety devices have been installed, and everybody knows lockout-tagout procedures.
“We have trained on that monthly, so I’d say, yes sir, it’s pretty safe in here,” he said.
Dee Jackson, finishing supervisor and a 36-year employee, said he can sense a change in management’s attitude toward employees. He said Tyler Pipe is a good place to work now, and he enjoys it.
“I’ve seen more interest in the people nowadays,” Jackson said. “They ask our opinions of things, what do we think is going on, what do we need to do.”
When asked if McWane is where it wants to be, Page said some competitors have outsourced their operations to third-world countries to bypass safety and environmental laws and pay lower salaries to those working in overseas plants.
He said McWane owns one foundry in China, but states it is not in competition with Tyler and the company is committed to American jobs, adding that Tyler Pipe and the other domestic foundries are proving to be more competitive every day.
Page said the “proof in the pudding” on the changes at Tyler Pipe were lower accident numbers, the awards and recognition in safety and environmental practices and the new lines of communication with the employees and the community.
“We really do believe that good safety is good business. We have now absolutely turned the corner and want to stay in compliance,” he said. “We are committed to that facility and we are committed to the workforce there. Our goal is to be a significant part of the Tyler community.”
In reference to Tyler Pipe, he said, “In the 18 months after I took over, it became clear that we were losing control of that plant both from a turnover standpoint of our employees, the head count, all the way down to the service level to our customers. So we, being me, started focusing heavily on what was going on there and why the deterioration was occurring.
The result was the top managers at the plant were relieved of their positions.
But the problems were already mounting, and Tyler Pipe was convicted of violating the Clean Air Act of 1977 and fined $4.5 million, the largest fine of its kind, in 2005. The company was also held accountable for several deaths and a series of incapacitating injuries at the foundry and fined repeatedly for safety violations through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
A broader look of McWane shows that five McWane Inc. employees were arrested at a New Jersey foundry, Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Co., in 2003 after a lengthy investigation by the U.S. Justice Department. In May 2004, the government arrested five top executives at McWane Cast Iron Pipe Co. of Birmingham, Ala.
Both investigations found evidence of obstruction of criminal and regulatory investigations by the EPA and OSHA.
Page said the company began having problems when it grew dramatically in the 1990s, tripling in size.
He said the company grew from 3,000 employees in 11 facilities to 25 facilities with 7,500 employees in about five years. And some of the companies were in bad shape and had been used as “cash cows” by the previous owners.
However, Page said the fault fell on McWane.
“It’s kind of like buying a used car. You don’t know what’s under the hood until you drive it for awhile. Listen, McWane is responsible for not having responded quickly enough, and I believe we should’ve made more investments sooner,” he said.
Page added that, because of the sudden expansion, some employees were placed into management — which turned out to be a mistake.
But how did the company make drastic changes?
NEW STRATEGIES
Page said McWane began by replacing 90 percent of the top managerial positions and installing new upper management with a clear goal in mind: To be the best in class in the industry.
“We’ve defined our goal to be best in class in our industry. We can’t be best against Intel because we’re not a software company,” he said.
Orlowski said Tyler Pipe began engaging employees in town hall-type meetings to help in the improvement effort.
“It’s no secret, and we knew ourselves, that we were not where we wanted to be,” Orlowski said, referring to the early 2000s at Tyler Pipe. “My first thought when I got here was that I felt like it wasn’t managed as well as we could manage it from a lot of different angles. Of course, when you come into a place when there’s been some turnover in top management that’s usually the top reason. Were we horrible? No we weren’t.”
Jeff Willman, group safety and health compliance director, added that when he joined the plant in 2001, “Essentially every workday we were having a lost-time event.”
Willman, Orlowski and Tyler Pipe South Plant Assi-stant General Manager Kent Brown were hired to initiate the changes at the Tyler facility.
The men said several committees were formed to address different aspects of safety, and those efforts resulted in physical changes that included pedestrian walkways, an initiative to install guards to prevent worker contact with dangerous machinery and improvement in the lockout-tagout procedure that prevents equipment from starting before employees are clear.
Other changes include emission control systems, storm water filtration, recycling initiatives, and an environmental management system.
From 2000 to 2007, Tyler Pipe increased its environmental health and safety staff from two to 20 employees. They include a group safety director, a night safety engineer, a safety training coordinator, safety interns, three emergency medical technicians, three environmental engineers, an environmental technician and a plant doctor.
The company reported it invested $115 million in capital improvement projects in Tyler alone. Of that amount, $40 million was spent on emergency-, health- and safety-related initiatives, and $37 million was spent on environmental and emission controls.
An accident history from October 2007, reported by the plant to OSHA and audited by a third party, shows a total recordable injury rate decreasing from 25.87 (25.87 injuries per 100 employees) in 2000 to 7.48 last year. The industry rate was 21.7 in 2000, and it stood at 17.1 in 2005, the latest year for which information was obtainable.
The plant boasts stretches of 163 days without a lost-time accident in 2006 and 175 days without such an accident last year.
“We are very proud of the fact that we’re below the industry rate on injuries and we now go for redundant safety here,” Willman said.
Phillip Brooks, a master electrician, worked at Tyler Pipe from 2001 until a layoff in 2006. He returned to work nearly two months ago. Brooks said conditions are vastly different than when he originally started work at the plant.
“They had some safety (rules and protection devices) but it wasn’t like what it is now,” he said. “A lot of people ignored safety rules and stuff, did things and didn’t lock out stuff, worked on equipment and they shouldn’t have been doing it the way they did it. But there have been a lot of changes; most of that has been addressed since then.”
According to Tyler Pipe reports, which were audited by a third party and reported to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, particulate matter has also decreased at the foundry.
High above the plant floor, a series of huge silver ducts carry potential pollutants to several bag houses on the property to reduce the particulate matter released into the atmosphere.
“This was one of many improvements made to help with the air quality,” Tatman said.
In addition to the physical changes, the plant assembled a community advisory panel composed of 14 local government, business, labor, law enforcement, religious, health and education leaders in Tyler and Smith County. The company began asking the panel for advice in how to interact with the community better.
Page said McWane is committed to this relationship with the communities and he heralds new initiatives such as recycling sand used in pipe production at Tyler Pipe to be used in road paving as being environmentally friendly.
BETTER WORKPLACE?
Tyler community leaders say that Tyler Pipe is an important part of the economic engine that ensures that jobs in other industries will continue.
A 2002 independent analysis of the plant’s economic impact concluded that the foundry supports more than 4,500 jobs and $614 million in economic activity throughout Texas. It has a $43 million annual payroll and purchases $45 million in materials and services locally.
The analysis concluded the company pays nearly $14 million annually on utilities and generates nearly $16 million in tax revenue for the area.
Tom Mullins, president and chief executive officer of the Tyler Economic Development Council, noted that, after the plant’s acquisition by McWane in the mid-1990s, the company scaled back a work force that at one time numbered about 2,400. Then some notable accidents occurred at the plant in the mid- to late 1990s.
Foundry work is dangerous, and the smaller work force was under pressure to produce as much as it could, which can contribute to accidents, he said.
But Mullins lauded McWane’s efforts to bring in people who put priority in safety and value, resulting in safety improvements and technology upgrades in the plant.
“The turnaround in the last seven years or so has really been remarkable,” Mullins said. “They’re probably one of the largest and most technically advanced foundries now in the United States.”
Orlowski said McWane has shown it supports U.S. jobs by keeping plants open when it would have been less expensive to ship the jobs overseas. He said Tyler Pipe’s south plant is the only remaining domestic manufacturer of ductile iron fittings.
“They definitely have a desire and pride in American jobs and keeping plants here in the United States,” he said.
Mullins agreed. With a new management team, and safety and environmental improvements in place, the company has shown “it is committed to Tyler for the long term.”
Derrick Miller, who works in iron transfer in the south plant, said he has seen changes since being hired in 2001.
“They communicate with the workers more,” he said. “The employees have more input into what goes on. They realigned management and they’ve got good people working in management and, of course, management is working good with the union, and everything rolls out to the employees.”
Miller said more warning signs and safety devices have been installed, and everybody knows lockout-tagout procedures.
“We have trained on that monthly, so I’d say, yes sir, it’s pretty safe in here,” he said.
Dee Jackson, finishing supervisor and a 36-year employee, said he can sense a change in management’s attitude toward employees. He said Tyler Pipe is a good place to work now, and he enjoys it.
“I’ve seen more interest in the people nowadays,” Jackson said. “They ask our opinions of things, what do we think is going on, what do we need to do.”
When asked if McWane is where it wants to be, Page said some competitors have outsourced their operations to third-world countries to bypass safety and environmental laws and pay lower salaries to those working in overseas plants.
He said McWane owns one foundry in China, but states it is not in competition with Tyler and the company is committed to American jobs, adding that Tyler Pipe and the other domestic foundries are proving to be more competitive every day.
Page said the “proof in the pudding” on the changes at Tyler Pipe were lower accident numbers, the awards and recognition in safety and environmental practices and the new lines of communication with the employees and the community.
“We really do believe that good safety is good business. We have now absolutely turned the corner and want to stay in compliance,” he said. “We are committed to that facility and we are committed to the workforce there. Our goal is to be a significant part of the Tyler community.”
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