CHICAGO – The U.S. Department of Labor has ordered two railroad companies to pay three workers a total of $650,729.14 in back wages and damages for retaliating against them for reporting workplace injuries and safety concerns. The orders resulted from investigations conducted by the Chicago office of the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which were initiated upon receiving complaints from the employees.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration have signed a memorandum of agreement to facilitate coordination and cooperation between agencies regarding the enforcement of the Federal Railroad Safety Act's whistleblower provision. The act protects railroad employees from retaliation when they report safety violations, or work-related personal injuries or illnesses.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced that OSHA and BP Products North America Inc. have resolved 409 of the 439 citations issued by the agency in October 2009 for willful violations of OSHA's process safety management standard at BP's refinery in Texas City, Texas. Under the agreement, BP will pay $13,027,000 in penalties, and already has abated or will abate all existing violations by the end of 2012.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited four New Jersey contractors working on a 20-story building in Jersey City for exposing workers to fall hazards following a December 2011 inspection during which inspectors observed employees working on the fourth floor without personal fall protection or fall protection systems. Altura Concrete Inc.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health today issued a hazard alert on ensuring that employers in hydraulic fracturing operations take appropriate steps to protect workers from silica exposure. Today's action, which is taken after consultation with stakeholders, including industry, meets the Obama administration's focus on ensuring that this important resource continues to be developed safely and responsibly.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found that Norfolk Southern Railway Co. violated the whistleblower protection provisions of the Federal Railroad Safety Act and consequently has ordered the company to pay three whistleblowers $802,168.70 in damages, including $525,000 in punitive damages and attorneys' fees.

BRAINTREE, Mass. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Tribe Mediterranean Foods, a subsidiary of Nestle SA that manufactures Tribe brand hummus products, for 18 alleged violations of workplace safety standards following the death of a worker at its Taunton production plant. OSHA's South Boston Area Office opened an inspection on Dec.

SEATTLE – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has approved J.R. Simplot Co.'s Conda Pump Station in Soda Springs, Idaho, for continued participation in its Voluntary Protection Programs at the "star," or highest, level. A ceremony to recognize the company's continued excellence in employee safety and health will be held at the facility June 1 at 6:00 p.m. MDT.

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued 30 notices of unsafe and unhealthful working conditions for violations found during inspections of four U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities. OSHA began the inspections during November 2011 at the VA hospital in Mather and at outpatient clinics in Martinez, Fairfield and Oakland. All are part of the VA's Northern California Health Care System.

3 new members appointed and 5 members re-appointed

WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration will hold a meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health June 19-20 in Washington. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis has announced the appointment of three new committee members and the re-appointment of five members.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced its intent to establish a Whistleblower Protection Advisory Committee. The committee will advise, consult with and make recommendations to the secretary of labor and the assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health on ways to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and transparency of OSHA's administration of whistleblower protections.

WEST CALDWELL, N.J. The U.S. Department of Labor has cited Wilmington, Mass.-based UniFirst Corp., a uniform and laundry service, for three willful and four serious safety and health violations, including some involving bloodborne pathogen and lead exposure hazards, at its West Caldwell facility. A complaint alleging hazards prompted OSHA's inspection. Proposed penalties total $186,000.

Educational materials and mobile application available

HONOLULU – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited GM Logistics in Guam for five alleged serious and one other-than-serious safety violation following an inspection that was prompted by a Nov. 16, 2011, workplace fatality.

Enterprisewide settlement with US Labor Department follows legal actions

Educational materials and mobile application available

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has kicked off a national outreach initiative to educate workers and their employers about the hazards of working outdoors in hot weather. The outreach effort builds on last year's successful summer campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of too much sun and heat.

LOS ANGELES Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today announced a new campaign led by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration to prevent deadly falls in the construction industry. The awareness campaign will provide employers and workers with life-saving information and educational materials about working safely from ladders, scaffolds and roofs. In 2010, more than 10,000 construction workers were injured as a result of falling while working from heights, and another 255 workers were killed.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has made an audio message available from Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, in honor of Workers Memorial Day.

Workers' Memorial Day, which is observed each year on April 28, honors the lives of those who have been injured or killed on the job. In the United States, 12 workers die on the job every day, down from 38 per day when the Occupational Safety and Health Act was passed in 1970.

WASHINGTON – Delta Air Lines Inc. has signed a corporatewide settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration in order to protect workers who operate baggage handling vehicles.

ATCHISON, Kan. – Bartlett Grain Co. L.P. faces five willful and eight serious safety violations cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration following an October 2011 grain elevator explosion in Atchison that killed six workers and left two others hospitalized.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced a new National Emphasis Program for Nursing and Residential Care Facilities to protect workers from serious safety and health hazards that are common in medical industries. OSHA develops national emphasis programs to focus outreach efforts and inspections on specific hazards in an industry for a three-year period. Through this NEP, OSHA will target nursing homes and residential care facilities in an effort to reduce occupational illnesses and injuries.