FAIRFIELD, Ala. — Like most of us, Leo Bridges and Edward Bryant left for work one day in September 2014, probably thinking about some rest and relaxation when the shift ended. Like many, they figured their managers and employer would ensure they were safe at work. Bridges and Bryant were wrong; they were caught in a fiery explosion in the Flux Building, which U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors said occurred because U.S. Steel Corp. put workers at risk, so as not to slow production at its Fairfield facility.

CHICAGO — Left unguarded, dangerous machines with moving parts cause hundreds of thousands of workers to suffer finger, hand or foot amputations and other serious injuries each year in the United States. Despite these dangers, one Chicago-based manufacturer has repeatedly ignored the risks and has been found in violation of safety and health standards four times in the last five years.

BOWDON, Ga. — Dollar General Corp. has been cited again by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, this time for four repeated safety violations found in a December 2014 inspection of the Bowdon store at 203 Wedowee St. OSHA initiated the inspection after receiving a complaint and has proposed penalties of $83,050.

DU QUOIN, Ill. — A truck driver, who was fired the morning after he filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration alleging unsafe working conditions, will receive $33,000 under terms of a settlement agreement. The agreement resolves a lawsuit brought against employers Perry Ridge Landfill Inc., Panther City Hauling and their corporate officer, Joseph Mazza, for violating the whistleblower provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

Employer name: SER Construction Partners Ltd.

Site: Houston, Texas

Date initiated: OSHA's Houston North Area Office began the investigation in January under the National Emphasis Program on Trenching and Excavations.

Employer name: K.W. McAvoy & Son Inc.

Inspection site: 3500 Greensboro Road, Washington, Georgia 30673

Date investigation initiated: OSHA initiated the investigation on Nov. 5, 2014, after the agency received a complaint related to safety and health hazards at the facility.

Employer name: Pregis Corp., a manufacturer of foam, paper and plastic packaging materials

Inspection site: 300 Lower Warren St., Queensbury, New York 12804

ATLANTA — The Federal Highway Administration, the state of Georgia and local government organizations are partnering with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration to sponsor a one-hour Safety Stand-Down at construction sites in Georgia in conjunction with National Highway Work Zone Awareness Week from March 23-27.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. — For the third time since 2011, the Union Pacific Railroad has violated the Federal Railroad Safety Act at its yard in North Platte by disciplining employees who reported workplace injuries and sought medical attention, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found. Since 2001, the company has faced more than 200 whistleblower complaints nationwide.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. — For the third time since 2011, the Union Pacific Railroad has violated the Federal Railroad Safety Act at its yard in North Platte by disciplining employees who reported workplace injuries and sought medical attention, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found. Since 2001, the company has faced more than 200 whistleblower complaints nationwide.

Employer name: Mt. Vernon Barge Services, Jeffersonville, Indiana

Investigation site: 5804 Utica Pike, Jeffersonville, Indiana

Employer name: Nova Southeastern University

Inspection site: 3301 College Ave., Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33314

Date inspection initiated: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated the investigation on Nov. 5, 2014, after receiving a complaint about faculty in the anatomy lab being exposed to formaldehyde.

Inspection findings:

Employer name: Health Care Products Inc.

Investigation site: 410 Nisco Street, Coldwater, Ohio

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: On Nov. 25, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Toledo Area Office initiated an inspection of the feminine hygiene product manufacturer after receiving a complaint alleging unsafe working conductions.

NEW YORK — It began as a routine safety inspection in August 2012 at the New York City Transit Authority's Linden Shop maintenance facility in Brooklyn. It ended with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration finding that the transit authority and one of its supervisors discriminated against an employee for exercising his safety rights under the National Transit Systems Security Act. As a result, OSHA has ordered the NYCTA and supervisor Mark Ruggerio to pay the employee $52,500 in damages and take other corrective action.

FAIRFIELD, Ohio — A 53-year-old bowling alley worker was asphyxiated when his hooded sweatshirt was caught in a pinsetter at Northwest Lanes in Fairfield because the machine's operating parts were improperly exposed, an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — World Kitchen LLC makes dinnerware for well-known brand names, such as Corelle and CorningWare. Less well-known is that workers at the company's Corning manufacturing plant have been exposed to a variety of hazards that put their health and safety at risk.

Employer name: United States Postal Service

Investigation site: Main Post Office, 1165 2nd Ave., Des Moines, Iowa

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: On Oct. 2, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated an inspection of the main post office in Des Moines after receiving an employee complaint alleging that unsafe forklifts were being used at the facility.

ROCKFORD, Ill. — Once again, workers were exposed to dangerous amputation hazards during maintenance and while processing scrap metal because safety mechanisms were not in place at Behr Iron & Steel facilities in Rockford and Peoria. The September 2014 inspections by the U.S.

Employer name: Bruegger's Enterprises, Inc., doing business as Bruegger's Bagels

Inspection site: 2000 Cecil Ashburn Drive SE, Huntsville, Alabama 35802

LA BELLE, Mo. — A 35-year-old worker doing maintenance on an overhead door's pulleys died after he fell off a 12-foot ladder onto a concrete floor at a dairy farm in La Belle, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has concluded. An OSHA investigation of the Sept. 1, 2014, incident identified eight serious safety violations, including failing to de-energize equipment, confined space and chemical hazards.