Employer name: Cycle Tex Inc.

Inspection site: 906 East Hermitage Road, Rome, Georgia 30161

Date inspection initiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated the Jan. 20, 2015, inspection after the agency received a complaint.

Employer name: Republic Steel Canton, Ohio

Investigation site: 1807 E. 28th Street Lorain, Ohio

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: On Dec. 12, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Toledo Area Office initiated an inspection at Republic Steel's Lorain, Ohio, mill after receiving a report that a worker fell from a height of about 12 feet. The 17-year-employee suffered contusions to the back, shoulder and abdomen.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — An East Greenwich company that conducts wellness clinics throughout the U.S. inadequately protected its employees against exposure from contaminated needlesticks and bloodborne pathogen hazards, an inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found.

PHILADELPHIA — Robert D. Kulick, acting OSHA regional administrator in Philadelphia, issued the following statement about roofing company owner James J. McCullagh being charged by indictment today in connection with the fatal fall of an employee.

CLAYCOMO, Mo. — The death of a 52-year-old contractor, crushed by a conveyor carriage weighing nearly 4 tons at an automotive assembly plant, could have been averted if his employer followed federal safety standards, U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators determined.

In December 2014, a weld failure caused a temporary support safety pin to disengage on an assembly line conveyor carriage at the Ford Kansas City Assembly Plant in Claycomo. The 7,600-pound carriage then fell on the worker.

Employer Name: Venture Chemicals Inc.

Location: Seagraves, Texas

Date Inspection Initiated and What Prompted the Inspection: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration opened the inspection in December 2014 after an employee was fatally caught in a mixer/auger bin.

Employer name: Contender Boats Inc.

Inspection site: 1820 SE 38th Avenue, Homestead, Florida 33035

Date inspection initiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated the Dec. 16, 2014, inspection as part of the agency's Site Specific Targeting Program.

HONOLULU — Stronger safety measures may have saved the lives of two workers who died at a Pearl Harbor naval maintenance facility in December 2014 after being struck by a 7-ton buoy, which has led the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration to order safety upgrades.

Employer name: Tip Top Roofing & Construction/Tip Top Exteriors Inc. 2030 Coltonville Road, Sycamore, Illinois

Investigation site: 1990 Town Drive Naperville, Illinois

Employer name: Shoreline Foundation Inc.

Inspection site: 2781 SW 56th Avenue, Pembroke Park, Florida 33023

Date inspection initiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated the Dec. 18, 2014, inspection after receiving a complaint alleging workplace hazards.

Investigation finds electric heater and fumes caused gas explosion

CUMMINGS, Kan. — Two workers endured several weeks of skin graft surgery and physical therapy after suffering second-degree burns when gas vapors exploded in a railcar in December 2014 at GBW Railcar Services LLC. The car was being prepared for cleaning when an electric heater ignited the flammable gas. Seven other workers were treated for injuries and released from the hospital.

Employer name: Suburban General Construction Inc., 1019 E. 31st Street, La Grange Park, Illinois

Investigation site: 1515 Lathrop Ave., River Forest, Illinois

HAVERTOWN, Pa. — For six masonry workers installing brick facades on two new residential properties in Philadelphia, each day on-the-job could have been their last.

DALLAS — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration urges everyone engaged in cleanup after the recent floods in Texas — employers, workers and the public — to avoid potential hazards and take steps to protect themselves.

Employer name: Detyens Shipyards Inc.

Inspection site: 1670 Dry Dock Avenue, North Charleston, South Carolina 29405

Date inspection initiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration performed a comprehensive inspection on Dec. 2, 2014, as part of its Regional Emphasis Program on Maritime Industries.

OSHA proposes nearly $172K in penalties for 3 New Jersey employers

Employers' Names and Locations: The production warehouse of soft drink manufacturer Whitlock Packaging Corp. is located at 92 N. Main St. in Wharton, New Jersey.

Customized Distribution Services Inc., a general warehousing and storage contractor hired by Whitlock to run the warehouse's day-to-day operations, is located at 20 Harry Shupe Blvd. in Wharton.

WINESBURG, Ohio — Less than two years after agreeing to address safety violations in a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Case Farms Processing Inc. exposed workers to the same dangerous machinery hazards at its Winesburg facility.

BOISE, Idaho — Every month, somewhere in the U.S., two people die in trench cave-ins — buried or crushed by the tremendous weight of falling earth. In fact, one cubic yard of soil can be equal to the weight of a small automobile, about 3,000 pounds. These needless deaths can be prevented with proper cave-in protections.

Despite these realities, some contractors continue to ignore the serious dangers of unprotected trenches and allow employees to work below ground level at great risk.

AVENEL, N.J. — The life of a 46-year-old demolition worker, killed in a building collapse in November 2014 at a Staten Island auto dealership, could have been spared if his employer had not disregarded federal safety rules.

Delfino Jesus Velazquez Mendizabal died when the mezzanine of the former Dana Ford Lincoln dealership collapsed on him. A husband and father, Mendizabal was employed by Formica Construction Co. Inc., a Port Richmond, New York, contractor.