April 6, 2023

US Department of Labor renews L.L. Bean ‘Star Level’ designation for workplace safety, health achievements

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.

April 5, 2023

US Department of Labor renews Wheelabrator’s ‘Star Level’ designation for workplace safety, health achievements

Participant:   Wheelabrator Bridgeport

Bridgeport, Connecticut

Description:  Wheelabrator employs about 70 workers at the Bridgeport site. The site is a waste-to-energy facility generating electricity for the New England power grid.

April 3, 2023

US Department of Labor investigation of Ohio hardwood flooring mill finds three injuries in five months as company consistently violates safety rules

PORTSMOUTH, OH ‒ For the third time in five months, federal safety inspectors responded to a Portsmouth hardwood flooring mill to investigate reports of unsafe machinery. Two of those inspections involved worker’s injuries, the latest on Oct. 5, 2022, when a worker’s fingertip was partially amputated because it was caught in an unguarded belt and pulley.

March 31, 2023

US Department of Labor urges caution for workers involved in recovery efforts after powerful storms impact Mississippi, Southeast

ATLANTA - After severe weather swept through much of the Southeast on March 24 and spawned at least 27 tornadoes across Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee, workers involved in cleanup activities face dangers during recovery operations.

March 31, 2023

US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration releases 2022 injury and illness data

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has published 2022 injury and illness data based on reports by more than 300,000 establishments. The Injury Tracking Application data is part of OSHA’s electronic recordkeeping requirements for certain employers who were required to submit OSHA Form 300A information from Jan. 2 to March 2, 2023.

March 31, 2023

US Department of Labor finds fall protection would have saved roof worker who fatally plunged through skylight at Milton airport in October 2022

PENSACOLA, FL Unaware of the danger, a 59-year-old roofer working atop a Milton airport hangar on Oct. 25, 2022, stepped onto a skylight and its sudden collapse caused the worker to fall 25 feet to the concrete floor below. The injured roofer died four days later.

March 30, 2023

For the 6th time in 13 months, Department of Labor finds Fort Walton Beach framing contractor endangering workers at Florida worksites

FORT WALTON BEACH, FL – For the sixth time since 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor has found a Fort Walton Beach framing contractor endangering employees by not following federal safety standards for fall and eye protection and other hazards.

March 30, 2023

US Department of Labor establishes a Georgia-wide alliance to improve ergonomic safety in state’s warehouses

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

Material Handling Institute’s Ergonomics Assist Systems and Equipment Council

What:             Alliance agreement

March 28, 2023

Deadly gamble: North Dakota contractor supervised workers in unprotected trenches, failed 3 inspections in 32 days, ignored warnings, faces $505K in fines

MANDAN, ND ‒ Twice in 2022, the owner of a Mandan excavation company sat behind the controls of an excavator, supervising employees below as they installed municipal water lines in trenches as deep as 10 feet without protection against deadly collapses, federal workplace safety inspectors found. In 2022, trench collapses killed 39 workers, as thousands of pounds of soil and rocks crush or smother people in seconds.

March 28, 2023

Appleton roofing general contractor, Kaukauna subcontractor cited for repeatedly failing to protect employees from exposure to deadly fall hazards

APPLETON, WI Federal workplace safety inspectors have found that Security-Luebke Roofing Inc. – one of Fox Valley’s largest roofing general contractors – allowed a roofing subcontractor to expose workers to potentially deadly falls at an Appleton worksite, just two months after the general contractor discussed the importance of safe work practices with the U.S. Department of Labor.

March 28, 2023

Deadly defiance: Ocala framing contractor’s refusal to comply with safety standards continues despite fatal 2020 incident, 35 violations since 2019

TAMPA, FL – Federal workplace safety inspectors have found that an Ocala framing contractor’s history of defying required safety standards continues with their employees’ safety and lives at risk.

March 27, 2023

US Department of Labor, industry leaders focus on small steps for big safety impact during 2023 Stand Up 4 Grain Safety Week, March 27-31

WASHINGTON ‒ Once inside a grain storage bin, a worker can find themselves engulfed or trapped by flowing grain in just seconds. In 2021, 38 percent of reported grain engulfments turned deadly because required safeguards were not followed.

Concerted efforts by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, state workplace safety officials and industry stakeholders helped to reduce the rate of fatal engulfments by 17 percent from 2020 to 2021.

March 27, 2023

Court requires Austin auto dealership to pay $15K in damages to employee fired in 2020 after raising COVID-19 safety concerns

AUSTIN, TX – When an employee of a luxury auto dealership in Austin learned a co-worker had tested positive for COVID-19 in December 2020, they alerted the company’s management and requested they notify other employees immediately of their exposure risk.

After the dealership failed to act, the employee emailed all company employees about the potential hazards. Less than an hour later, the car dealer terminated the employee.

March 24, 2023

US Department of Labor finds lawn service contractor ignored safety standards, allowed workers to operate riding mowers dangerously at Fort Campbell

FORT CAMPBELL, KY – A federal workplace safety inspection of a lawn service contractors’ operations at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, has found the company ignored safety requirements to save time, including removing safety guards on industrial lawnmowers.

March 21, 2023

US Department of Labor certifies Maine’s completion of developmental steps of occupational safety, health plan for state, local government workers

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration has certified the completion of all structural and developmental aspects of Maine’s State Plan for protecting the safety and health of state and local government workers.