WENCO ENERGY CORPORATION

According to U.S. Department of Labor enforcement records, WENCO ENERGY CORPORATION — a oil and gas field machinery and equipment manufacturing facility located at 11129 E 56TH STREET S., TULSA, OK 74146 — was the subject of a formal OSHA inspection that resulted in 49 citation(s) and cumulative proposed penalties of $109,008.00. The inspection case was opened on 2012-02-29.

Cumulative penalties significantly exceed the national median for OSHA enforcement actions. The penalty amount suggests multiple high-gravity citations, indicating conditions that presented a substantial probability of death or serious physical harm to employees.

BLS Injury Data: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2022), this industry sector has an occupational injury rate of 3.3 per 100 full-time workers — 22% above the national average of 2.7. The sector fatality rate is 2.3 per 100,000 workers.

Industry Benchmark: The total penalty of $109,008.00 is more than 16.9× the national average of $6,436.62 for facilities in the Manufacturing sector (NAICS 333132). This sector encompasses 82,943 inspected facilities nationwide with aggregate penalties totaling $533.9M.

State Context: Within OK, this facility's penalty places it at the 100th percentile among 20,827 inspected facilities. The statewide average penalty is $2,560.36.

Citation Analysis: The inspection produced 49 citations spanning 5 distinct OSHA regulatory standards. The citation breakdown includes: 14 serious — A workplace hazard that could cause death or serious physical harm exists, and the employer knew or should have known about the condition. 1 other-than-serious — The violation has a direct relationship to job safety and health but is unlikely to cause death or serious physical harm.

Enforcement Timeline: Citations were issued beginning March 2, 2011 with the latest abatement deadline set for November 1, 2012. Of the 49 total citations, 14 (29%) have been marked as abated in DOL records, which may indicate ongoing compliance gaps requiring further regulatory attention.

Penalty Assessment: The cumulative penalty of $109,008.00 reflects OSHA's gravity-based penalty calculation methodology, which considers the severity of potential injury, the probability of occurrence, the employer's size, good faith, and violation history. The per-citation average of $2,224.65 falls within the standard penalty range.

The 2012 enforcement action against Wenco Energy Corporation reveals a deeply fractured safety culture characterized by systemic failures in high-risk operational categories. The sheer volume of citations—totaling 49 violations—indicates that non-compliance was not an isolated lapse but an organizational norm. The penalty of $109,008 is significantly higher than the industry average for oil and gas machinery manufacturing, reflecting the high gravity assigned to repeated technical failures in Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) and Powered Industrial Truck (PIT) operations. The specific citations under 1910.147 (C05, C07, and D04) point to a fundamental breakdown in energy control procedures, leaving workers exposed to catastrophic "caught-in" or "crush" hazards during equipment maintenance. Furthermore, the concentration of 1910.178 violations regarding forklift operation, maintenance, and training (Q01, Q07, L01) suggests a pervasive lack of oversight in material handling. In practical terms, employees were likely operating defective machinery without standardized training or pre-shift inspections, a combination that frequently leads to workplace fatalities. The inclusion of General Duty Clause (5A0001) citations alongside specific PPE and welding standards (1910.132, 1910.254) underscores a management failure to recognize and mitigate even basic recognized hazards. This enforcement profile depicts a facility where production speed likely superseded safety protocols, necessitating a complete overhaul of the EHS management system to address the identified mechanical and administrative deficiencies.