WASHINGTON -- The first university-owned feed mill in Iowa was the site for the kickoff of the 2025 Stand Up 4 Grain Safety Week, an annual training and educational event that reminds agriculture industry employers and workers about the potentially deadly hazards present in confined spaces, including grain engulfment.

ATLANTA – In September 2024, an employee at SeaWorld’s Orlando theme park was injured during a training exercise with a killer whale. A U.S. Department of Labor investigation found that the trainer was not properly protected from hazards while working with the whale.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced senior political appointees who will help Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer execute President Donald Trump’s mission of putting American workers and retirees first.

Bureau of International Labor Affairs

RONKS, PA  - The U.S. Department of Labor has ordered a tourist railroad operator in Ronks, Pennsylvania, and a former company official to reinstate an employee and pay them back wages and damages after they were fired for refusing to issue locomotive and conductor licenses to an untrained and unqualified management official.

BOSTON – A federal administrative law judge has determined that Greg Beeche Logistics, a scaffold installation company based in Waterford, New York, exposed employees to potential falls by erecting and using scaffolds that failed to meet federal workplace safety standards.

BRAINTREE, MA – A Wilmington construction contractor could have prevented a fatal workplace incident at the Cutler Majestic Theater in Boston that claimed the life of a 44-year-old construction worker in August 2024 by following required fall protection measures, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found. 

DECATUR, AL – Federal workplace safety investigators found that a Decatur manufacturer of GE-brand appliances failed to follow required machine standards that could have prevented a 58-year-old front-line supervisor’s fatal injuries while trying to service a door molding machine.

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found that a drainpipe cleaning and maintenance company could have prevented an explosion at a Port Saint Lucie worksite in June 2024 that claimed a 24-year-old worker’s life, by implementing proper safety measures to address the hazards of inflatable pipe plugs.      

MULBERRY, FL – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation determined a Mulberry phosphatic fertilizer manufacturer failed to follow required safety standards, leading to the tragic loss of a 29-year-old process operator in July 2024. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration has terminated its COVID-19 healthcare rulemaking.

CHAMBERSBURG, PA – A Chambersburg soap and detergent manufacturer faces $161,310 in federal penalties after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation of a chemical gas release that sent a dozen workers to the hospital in July 2024.

WASHINGTON – Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su issued the following statement on findings from the USDA on worker safety in poultry and swine plants:

“The findings in USDA’s report on worker safety in poultry and swine plants show that injuries, including chronic pain and musculoskeletal disorders are too common. These kinds of injuries often go unreported. 

Date of action:                       Dec. 10, 2024

Type of action:                      Sentencing

ZION, IL – Federal inspectors have again cited a Zion contractor with an extensive history of endangering workers by exposing them to fall hazards. The latest violations were discovered when employees were found roofing a residential structure without required fall protections – marking the second such incident in six months and the fifth in two years.

LELAND, NC – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation into the drowning of a 27-year-old heavy equipment operator at a Leland worksite found the employer could have prevented the fatal incident by following established safety regulations.      

AUGUSTA, ME – A federal workplace safety investigation has found a Glenburn general contractor’s decisions to ignore an onsite expert’s repeated warnings and the company’s own site-specific safety plan led to a fatal incident in June 2024. An employee suffered fatal crushing injuries when an unbraced retaining wall collapsed at a Brownville worksite.

FORT WORTH, TX – A U.S. Department of Labor workplace safety investigation has found a Frisco contractor repeatedly exposed workers to serious hazards by sending them into unprotected trenches without providing a means of escape. 

BESSEMER, AL – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found a local electrical contractor could have prevented a 44-year-old foreman’s electrocution during storm recovery efforts in Coaling by taking critical safety measures to protect their workers. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, Doug Parker, has issued the following statement in regard to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ release of its 2023 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries on Dec. 19, 2024:

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Amazon have entered into a corporate-wide settlement to help better protect employees from hazardous working conditions leading to serious lower back and other musculoskeletal disorders at Amazon facilities. The settlement agreement resolves the department’s multiple ergonomics cases against Amazon.com Services LLC, in the first major multi-site investigation brought by OSHA in over a decade.