WASHINGTON – On April 28, 1970, the nation first observed Workers Memorial Day at a time when an estimated 38 people died on the job in the U.S. each day. More than a half century later, this annual tribute endures as do the determined efforts of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Mine Safety and Health Administration to help protect the lives of our nation’s workers.

Participants:

U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Moss & Associates LLC

University of South Florida On-Site Consultation Program

What:             Safety partnership agreement

WINTER GARDEN, FL – Federal workplace safety inspectors have found Dollar General Corp., one of the nation’s largest discount retailers, exposing its employees and others to unsafe conditions again, this time in Winter Garden, Florida. 

DELRAY BEACH, FL – A federal whistleblower investigation has uncovered that Delray Beach retaliated against a city inspector who was fired after finding and reporting faults in the local water system that caused contamination of the public water supply.

Participant:   Hellman & Associates Inc.   

                             11913 West I-70 Frontage Road North

                             Wheat Ridge, CO 80033

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

Ringland-Johnson Construction Company

Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council

GREENWOOD, MS – Had federal workplace safety regulations been followed at a LeFlore County soybean farm, a South African teenager employed by its operator would have returned home and not suffocated inside a grain bin in October 2022.

PRESCOTT, AZ – Federal safety inspectors found that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs endangered maintenance workers at its healthcare facility in Prescott by allowing them to work on steam lines without ensuring they followed required safety procedures.

WASHINGTON – At Dollar General stores near Houston and Green Bay, federal workplace safety inspectors found exit routes and walkways blocked — unsafe conditions that make safe and quick emergency evacuation difficult or impossible — that have become common discoveries for years at stores operated by one of the nation’s largest discount retailers.

Participants: U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and WeCount!

What:             Safety alliance agreement

ATLANTA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration will join construction organizations in Georgia to promote worker safety and encourage industry employers to hold safety stand-downs at roadwork sites and in traffic work zones during National Work Zone Awareness Week, April 17 to 21.

MAPLESVILLE, AL – Federal workplace safety inspectors examining how a 36-year-old worker suffered fatal electrocution in a Maplesville paper mill found his employer willfully violating safety standards, including disregarding hazardous energy control procedures that protect employees performing maintenance on machinery.

Participant:   Tiverton Power

Tiverton, Rhode Island

Description:   Tiverton Power employs about 20 workers at this site, a natural gas power plant generating electricity for the New England power grid.   

Participant:   Dighton Power

Dighton, Massachusetts

Description:   Dighton Power employs about 15 workers at this site, a natural gas power plant generating electricity for the New England power grid.  

CHICAGO ‒ Thirty-nine people died doing trench or excavation work in the U.S. in 2022 – four in Illinois and two others in Ohio. In fact, the number of worker fatalities more than doubled since 2021, continuing a troubling trend cited by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that found 166 workers died in trench cave-ins from 2011-2018, an average of 21 each year.

JERSEY SHORE, PA – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has again found Dollar General exposing workers to dangerous safety hazards – including blocked emergency exit routes and electrical panels – this time during a November 2022 inspection at a Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, store.

Participant:   L.L. Bean Manufacturing Brunswick

Brunswick, Maine

Description:   L.L. Bean Manufacturing Brunswick employs about 200 workers at the Brunswick facility where they manufacture and assemble boots, dog beds and perform custom embroidery.

BOLLINGER COUNTY, MO - Workers and others engaged in recovery and cleanup operations after at least one tornado struck the Village of Glenallen in Bollinger County in the early hours of April 5, 2023, may face hazards related to falls, downed power lines and sharp debris.

CINCINNATI ‒ While working the overnight sanitation shift at an Ohio food processing plant, a 29-year-old temporary worker – on the job just nine months – suffered critical injuries after falling into an industrial blender he was cleaning and became caught in the rotating paddle augers. The worker’s injuries led to a leg amputation.

Participant:    Guarantee Electrical Contracting LLC

                              1390 Wheeling St.

                              Denver, CO 80239