May 31, 2016

Workers exposed to chemical hazards, other safety and health dangers at Bethlehem global flavor, fragrance manufacturer

Employer name: Ungerer & Company

Inspection site: 110 North Commerce Way, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Citations issued: On May 25, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued one repeat and six serious violations, and one other-than-serious violation.

May 26, 2016

Repeat safety and health violator US Chutes Inc. fails to correct hazards, ‘needlessly places its workers at risk’ of illness, injury

HARTFORD, Conn.  – After the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited and fined U.S. Chutes Inc.’s Bantam plant $94,428 for repeated and serious safety violations in January 2015, the manufacturer of galvanized chutes for laundry and trash conveyors asked for time to correct the hazards completely.

May 25, 2016

Worker loses part of finger in unguarded machine at bearing manufacturer

Employer name: The Timken Company, Bucyrus, Ohio

Citations issued: May 18, 2016

May 25, 2016

Obstructed emergency exits at two New Rochelle CVS stores: OSHA

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. – Responding to complaints, inspectors from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found access to emergency exits at two New Rochelle CVS stores blocked by merchandise, boxes and other objects. As a result, OSHA is citing the retailer for two repeated violations of workplace safety standards and proposing a total of $88,000 in fines.

May 25, 2016

OSHA: Ohio gun shop’s lead, respiratory hazards endanger workers

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio – Federal safety and health investigators found that employees of an Ohio gun shop may face life-long health damage because their employer continues to expose them to lead hazards and has failed to establish a respiratory protection program.

May 24, 2016

Cambridge candy manufacturer, Boston staffing agency, cited by OSHA after temporary employee loses part of finger while operating machine

ANDOVER, Mass.  – A candy-wrapping machine surgically amputated part of a temporary worker’s left index finger at a subsidiary of Tootsie Roll Industries Inc. of Chicago on Jan. 6, 2016, an incident that his employer might have prevented by meeting federal safety and health standards. 

MJR, a Boston staffing company that does business as Snelling Staffing Services, supplied the worker to Cambridge Brands Inc.’s production facility at 810 Main St., in Cambridge.

May 24, 2016

South Florida roofing contractor continues to expose workers to dangerous falls and other safety hazards; OSHA proposes nearly $54K in fines

Employer name: Payton Roofing Inc.

Inspection site: 4160 NW, 21st St., Buildings B and D, Lauderhill, Florida 33313

Citations issued: Citations were issued to the employer on May 23.

May 23, 2016

OSHA finds lack of proper ‘work zone’ in plumber’s death as he repaired leak under Philadelphia’s 63rd Street

PHILADELPHIA – Had his employer properly created a work zone, a passing car on Philadelphia’s 63rd Street might not have struck and killed a 27-year-old plumber working to repair an underground leak on a mid-November night in 2015. 

May 23, 2016

OSHA cites Midwest Grain & Barge Co. for exposing workers to grain-handling hazards at Missouri site

Employer name: First Missouri Terminals Inc. operating as Midwest Grain & Barge Company Inc.
179 Rushing Road, Scott City, Missouri 63780                                

Citations issued: May 19, 2016

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s

May 19, 2016

OSHA fines 2 Pennsylvania contractors more than $236K for again exposing employees to serious workplace dangers

Employers name:

  • Penn Stucco Systems Inc., 385 West Ridge Pike, Limerick, Pennsylvania
  • BC Stucco and Stone, 36 Marian Court, Upper Darby, Pennsylvania

Inspection site: 3018 West Thompson St., Philadelphia

General contractor Westrum Development Co. hired Penn Stucco Systems Inc. to complete stucco work on a building at the site location. Penn then contracted BC Stucco and Stone to provide labor for the job. 

May 19, 2016

Pier 1 Imports endangers workers again with blocked exits, stacked boxes

GLENDALE, Wis. – Pier 1 Imports’ workers in Glendale are the latest group of employees to be put at risk by  the national home décor retailer’s failure to prevent boxes from blocking aisles and being piled at dangerous heights. Federal workplace safety inspectors have found similar safety hazards at several other U.S. store locations.

May 19, 2016

Jefferson County metal manufacturer cited for 27 serious violations in federal workplace safety inspection, faces $47K in fines

Employer name: Falls Creek Powdered Metals Inc., 82 Industrial Drive, Brockway, Pennsylvania

Citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued 27 serious citations on May 17, 2016.

May 18, 2016

OSHA finds safety failures allowed machine to sever 30-year-old worker’s three fingertips at Nature’s Path subsidiary in Wisconsin

SUSSEX, Wis. ‒ A rotating airlock blade severed a 30-year-old worker’s three fingertips as he cleaned the machine at a Sussex subsidiary of organic food manufacturer Nature’s Path Foods Inc., an incident federal safety investigators found could have been prevented if the machine had been powered down fully.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the subsidiary, Nature’s Path USA II LLC, for the same violation in 2012.

May 17, 2016

OSHA orders Polar Service Centers to pay $190K in back wages, damages to safety manager demoted for reporting potential DOT violation

LANSING, Ill. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has ordered Polar Service Centers to reinstate and pay $190,547 in back wages and damages to a safety manager at its Lansing facility. The action comes after a federal investigation found the commercial tank trailer company violated the whistleblower provisions of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act.

May 16, 2016

Passaic distribution warehouse fined $112K for two dozen safety violations

Employer name: Oaxaca Mexican Products, 100 8th St., Passaic, New Jersey

Citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for one willful, 20 serious and three other-than-serious violations on May 3, 2016.

May 16, 2016

OSHA cites Alabama pallet manufacturer putting workers at risk of machinery, electrical and other hazards

Employer name: Southeast Forest Products Inc., doing business as Southeast Pallet & Box Co.

Inspection site: 4596 Washington Ferry Road, Montgomery, Alabama 36108

May 12, 2016

Marion County contractor ignores fall, electrocution hazards, putting workers in serious, potentially fatal danger at Fairmount work site

Employer name: M&M Construction LLC, doing business as Michael Jones Contracting
1912 Constitution Drive, Fairmont, West Virginia

Inspection site: Locust Avenue, Fairmont, West Virginia

Citations issued:  The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued two willful and eight serious citations on April 29, 2016.

May 12, 2016

Excavation company ignores serious dangers again, leaves workers unprotected in underground trench to remove Naperville sewer line

Employer name: Kellenberger Plumbing & Underground, Elgin, Illinois

Inspection site: 2708 Showplace Drive, Naperville, Illinois

Citations issued: May 2, 2016

May 12, 2016

Lack of emergency training at Houston coffee roaster cited by OSHA in deadly gas release that asphyxiated shift supervisor

Employer name: Atlantic Coffee Industrial Solutions LLC

Inspection site: 3900 Harrisburg Blvd., Houston

Citations issued: May 11, 2016

May 12, 2016

OSHA finds refrigeration warehouse lacked proper procedures for handling ammonia

Employer name: Ozburn-Hessey Logistics LLC
Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin

Citations issued: May 5, 2016

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration