SEATTLE — When an employee raises concerns about the dangers of asbestos in a school, you would expect them to be commended and not terminated. After questioning whether the timeline of a construction project at a school in Idaho Falls School District 91 allowed for safe removal of asbestos, a district employee was out of a job. Now, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has stepped in to protect that worker's rights.

Employer name: D&J Enterprises, Inc.

Inspection site: 2151 Interstate Drive Opelika, Alabama 36801

Date inspection initiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated the Jan. 14, 2015 inspection as part of the agency's National Emphasis Program on Trenching and Excavation.

GUNTOWN, Miss. — Raymond Marvin Reece was a husband and father who enjoyed pleasures like family boating trips, camping and stock-car racing. Tragically, the 46-year-old maintenance worker at H.M. Richards Inc. was fatally electrocuted on Oct. 1, 2014, as he disconnected wiring on a saw at the company's temporary facility on Towery Road in Guntown.

Company ignores fall safety with 41 citations since 2011

Employer name and location: Seldat Distribution Inc., 15 Thatcher Road, Dayton, New Jersey.

Date investigation initiated: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated an investigation on Sept. 11, 2014, in response to a referral from the South Brunswick Fire Marshall reporting that an employee was electrocuted by an improperly wired, powered conveyer system.

Employer name: Toledo Refining Company LLC

Investigation site: 1819 Woodville Road, Oregon, Ohio

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: On Sept. 2, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Toledo Area Office initiated an inspection of the petroleum refinery after a fire occurred in a heater at the facility, used to process crude oil. The refinery sustained some minor damage but no injuries were reported.

NEW YORK — All a receptionist at Salon Zoë hair salon wanted to do was make her fellow employees aware of health hazards associated with products containing formaldehyde that were regularly used by haircutters and stylists at the business in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. Her employer responded by firing her.

Elk Grove Village, Illinois-based contractor refuses to abide by OSHA standards

Company has failed to address previously issued OSHA citations, pay penalties

Employer name: Affordable Exteriors Inc., 17118 Harney Street, Omaha, Nebraska

Investigation site: 20505 Taylor Street, Elkhorn, Nebraska

ROBERTS, Wis. — Two years after pledging to address health and safety violations in a corporate settlement agreement after workers were exposed to serious machine, fall and respiratory hazards at its facilities around the country, U.S. Minerals Inc. employees in Roberts were faced with the same hazards, a September 2014 U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspection found.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Employees at a Wallingford freight shipping terminal faced dangerous chemical, fire and explosion hazards on Oct. 6, 2014, as they tried to contain a highly flammable and explosive chemical spill without proper training and personal protective equipment, U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators have determined.

SEATTLE — He started working for the U.S. Postal Service as a mail carrier in 1995. Managers praised his work consistently and regularly promoted him, eventually to management positions. His career led him to become a Postal Service safety specialist, where he excelled as he provided safety advice at more than 300 small postal facilities and area offices throughout Washington. In 2008, everything changed after the safety specialist dared to help a co-worker stand up for her rights.

NEW YORK — Employees of a Duane Reade store on 6th Avenue in Manhattan would have been unable to exit the store swiftly and safely in the event of a fire or other emergency, a September 2014 inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found. As a result, OSHA has cited the company for one repeated and four serious violations of workplace safety standards. The retailer faces $77,400 in proposed fines.

ELIDA, Ohio — An employee complaint led inspectors from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration to a wood pallet manufacturing facility in Elida operated by A & D Wood Products, where they found workers at risk of amputation, explosion and other life-threatening hazards.

OSHA proposes $43,560 in fines for William Trahant Jr. Construction, Inc. of Lynn

Employer name: William Trahant, Jr. Construction, Inc., roofing contractor, Lynn, Mass.

Inspection site: 86 Congress St., Salem, Mass. 01970

Date inspection initiated: OSHA's Andover Area Office began an inspection on Oct. 27, 2014, in response to a complaint.

Employer name and location: EP Heller Co., which manufactures and services carbide steel cutting tools, is located at 21-25 Samson Ave. in Madison, New Jersey.

Date investigation initiated: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated an investigation on Oct. 8, 2014, in response to a complaint.

Employer name and location: Bentley Laboratories LLC, which manufactures products for the beauty and pharmaceutical industries, is located in the Raritan Center at 111 Fieldcrest Avenue in Edison, New Jersey. Joulé Clinical & Scientific Staffing Solutions, a division of System One, provides staffing services to Bentley Laboratories and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

As many as 50 temporary workers were on site during peak season at Bentley's manufacturing facility in Edison.

Employer name: Kingspan Insulated Panels operating as Kingspan Benchmark

Investigation site: 720 Marion Road, Columbus, Ohio

Corporate address: 726 Summerhill Drive, Deland, Florida

WATERVILLE, Kan. — He walked into the grain storage bin on his own two feet, but he left in an ambulance. The 35-year-old had been working for the Beattie Farmers Union Cooperative for about a year when one day he became entangled in an auger that was inadvertently turned on while he was cleaning out the bin. At the hospital, doctors amputated all the toes on his left foot. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigated the Aug.

Employer name: Transformers Construction Services Inc., Jacksonville, Florida, was subcontracted by A&G Construction Group Inc.

Inspection site: 153 Forest Edge Drive, St. Johns, Florida 32259

Date inspection initiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated the inspection on Oct. 1, 2014, as part of the agency's Regional Emphasis Program on Falls in Construction.