BUFFALO, N.Y. – A simple task for an employee at Wegmans Food Market Inc.’s commercial bakery in Rochester instead resulted in a needless and severe injury. As the worker cleaned an operating conveyor belt and roller on Dec. 16, 2015, her hand was caught between the belt and the roller and the machine pulled it in. She sustained broken bones in her hand and arm.

Employer name: U.S. Pipe Fabrication LLC

Inspection site: 1101 Industrial Blvd., Gainesville, Georgia 30504

Citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to U.S. Pipe on June 6 for three repeated, three serious and one other-than-serious safety and health violations.

Employer name: Jamestown MVP LLC, 2061 Allen Street, Falconer, New York 14733.

Doing business as MVP Plastics, the company manufactures disposable plates and bowls.

Citations issued: On June 13, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued one citation for failure to abate a previously cited violation, and one citation for a repeat violation.

PHOENIX – With sweltering temperatures impacting Phoenix this week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is reminding employers to protect their workers from heat illness.

FOREST PARK, Ga. – A 27-year-old laborer’s life ended suddenly because his employer failed to have a competent person inspect the rail supporting a scaffold system nearly 80 feet off the ground for visible defects, an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found. 

LIMA, Ohio – For the third time in 10 years, federal safety and health inspectors found employees at a Lima custom sign manufacturing company exposed to respiratory, chemical and paint hazards.

DALLAS – With sweltering temperatures baking Texas this week, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration reminds employers to protect their workers from heat illness.

Participants: U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Cleveland Safety Forum

LINCOLN, Neb. ‒ The deadly fact is this: nearly 40 percent of all deaths in the construction industry are the result of a preventable fall. Yet, some employers continue to ignore the dangers and put their workers at risk of a debilitating or fatal fall.

BALDWIN, Ill. – A 46-year-old worker suffered the amputation of four fingers on his right hand when a feed machine cycled as he reached inside an access door to assist another employee with maintenance. Federal safety inspectors found his employer, Dynegy Midwest Generation LLC, failed to power down the machinery prior to employees servicing the machine.

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. ‒ One hour after six workers atop an Eau Claire residential roof donned required safety harnesses to satisfy a federal safety inspection on May 20, 2016, the inspector returned to the site and found the employees working again without proper fall protection and in danger of falls of up to 14 feet.

ALLIANCE, Neb. – A mere 20 minutes after an 8-foot deep trench collapsed, burying a 61-year-old plumber under thousands of pounds of soil, emergency responders pronounced the man dead. Partially buried, his co-worker escaped the trench and frantically tried to rescue the man until help arrived.

Employer name: PhytogenX Inc.  

Inspection site: 35 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Morgantown, Pennsylvania

Citations issued: On June 8, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to PhytogenX for four willful and six serious violations.

Employer name: Soundwich Inc.
Cleveland, Ohio

Citations issued: June 10, 2016

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued one repeated, 15 serious violations and one other-than-serious violation to Soundwich Inc. after conducting inspections at the aerodynamic and emission control product manufacturer’s Cleveland facility in January and April 2016.

Employer name: Dove Die & Stamping Company, Brook Park, Ohio

Citations issued: June 7, 2016

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Cleveland Area Office cited Dove Die & Stamping Company for two willful and two serious safety and health violations.

BELLEFONTAINE, Ohio – Less than a year after federal inspectors cited an Ohio rubber-hose manufacturer for 11 machine safety violations, the company now faces an additional $70,000 in fines after safety lapses led a 27-year-old male worker to suffer severe injuries at its Bellefontaine plant.

CHICAGO ‒ As a 54-year-old worker, who fell more than 11 feet as he installed a roof joist, recovered from his injuries, federal inspectors investigating his fall on March 8, 2016, arrived two days later and found a co-worker about 40 feet off the ground without proper fall protection.

HOUSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor filed two separate federal lawsuits in Houston today alleging that two employers operating in the city illegally fired employees for making safety complaints to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Federal workplace safety and health inspectors have cited a Massachusetts construction company after a worker suffered serious injuries after he fell almost 19 feet from a Portsmouth roof.

Responding to a complaint, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated an inspection of Paramo Daniela Construction of Brockton and found that the employer had:

Employer’s names: Allen’s Excavation Inc., Capital City Contracting LLC

Inspection site: 2037 Eastgate Way, Tallahassee, Florida 32308.