Employer name: Metallurgical Processing Inc.

Investigation site: 50 — 58 Arthur St., New Britain, Conn. 06053

Investigation findings: The Hartford Area Office of the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration began inspections on Jan. 15, 2015, in response to employee complaints. The inspections found employees of the company, which performs heat treatment on metal parts, were exposed to a variety of fire, explosion, chemical and mechanical hazards.

Participants: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration renewed a two-year alliance July 16, with the South Louisiana Service, Transmission, Exploration and Production Safety Network.

When and Where: July 16 at Safety Management Systems, Lafayette, LA.

MIDDLEFIELD, Ohio — A teenage worker's life was altered forever when his employer allowed him to operate machinery illegally and the 14-year-old lost his hand in the process.

Shady Knob Pallet Co. of Middlefield received citations from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration on July 7. The citations followed an inspection that found the young man suffered the injury when he touched the operating parts of a wood planer while manufacturing pallets on March 31.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A storage tank manufacturer exposed workers to hazardous levels of hexavalent chromium and potentially deafening noise as they welded and grinded stainless steel and other alloy steels. At high levels, hexavalent chromium can cause lung cancer and respiratory, eye and skin damage.

DALLAS — A local steel fabricator continues to put its workers in harm's way, despite its awareness of hazards at its Farmers Branch facility, and a recent federal inspection that found more than a dozen safety violations.

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill. — A 25-ton power press crushed a temporary worker's right ring finger when the machine she operated cycled through while her hand was inside. The incident, at a steel parts manufacturing plant in Elk Grove Village, occurred when light curtains that act as machine guards failed to work properly. The woman suffered the injury after just 10 days at Topy Precision Manufacturing Inc.

Employer name: Transformers Construction Services Inc. and Buildtronix LLC, owned by Leanna Richardson.

Inspection sites: 25 Molasses Court, St. Johns, Florida 32259 and 65 Morning Star Way, Ponte Vedra, Florida 32081

Date citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued the employer citations on June 26.

Employer name: Gate Precast Co. and Trueblue Inc., doing business as Labor Ready

Site: Shenandoah, Texas

Date citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the employers on July 16, for exposing workers to fall hazards at a construction site.

SEATTLE — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has again ordered Oak Harbor Freight Lines Inc. to stop retaliating against truck drivers who refuse to drive when they feel too ill or fatigued.

NEW PHILADELPHIA, Ohio — A hydraulic press crushed a 62-year-old machine operator's left hand at a seal and gasket manufacturer, resulting in multiple broken bones. The injured worker, a 15-year employee, has been unable to return to work and has endured three surgeries as a result.

Employer name: Hugo's Roofing Contractors Inc. 26889 Muenz Road Wright City, Missouri

Investigation site: 214 Arbor Meadows Court Fairview Heights, Illinois

Employer name: Commercial Warehousing Inc.

Inspection sites: 102 Industrial Boulevard, Winter Haven, Florida 33880

Date citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued the employer citations on July 10, 2015. The January 2015 inspection was initiated as part of the agency's National Emphasis Program for Chemical Plants.

EL PASO, Texas — With a history of safety violations dating back 15 years, an El Paso metal stamping plant is no stranger to warnings from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Employer name: Gateway

Inspection site: 1401 20th Street South, Birmingham, Alabama 35205

Date citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to the employer on July 10, 2015. The inspection was initiated on January 13, 2015, after the agency received a complaint alleging workplace violence.

LA PORTE, Texas — In November 2014, a worker was overcome at a DuPont chemical manufacturing facility when a supply line unexpectedly released more than 20,000 lbs. of methyl mercaptan, a deadly chemical.Three co-workers came to the worker's aid in an attempted rescue, but all four were asphyxiated fatally by the colorless, flammable, and highly toxic gas.

MOLINE, Ill. — Job reinstatement, back wages and damages are sought for a pipefitter previously employed by John Deere, who was terminated from the Moline facility after reporting unsafe working conditions to the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The department filed the lawsuit in federal court against Deere & Co., which operates as John Deere, on behalf of a pipefitter. The suit alleges John Deere violated the whistleblower provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

CAROL STREAM, Ill. — An auto parts manufacturer's decision to ignore machine safety procedures led to the loss of a 58-year-old worker's fingertip, U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors have determined.

OSHA inspected FIC America Corp. in January at its Carol Stream location after the employee suffered the fingertip amputation while servicing a machine. The agency cited the company on July 1, for one repeated, nine serious and one other-than-serious safety violation. Proposed penalties total $89,000.

Employer name: HB&G Building Products Inc.

Inspection site: 1015 Brundidge Boulevard, Troy, Alabama 36081

Date citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to the employer on June 29, 2015. The inspection was initiated in March 2015, as part of the agency's Site Specific Targeting Program.

NEW YORK — Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center in New York has agreed to implement and maintain a comprehensive program to safeguard its employees better against assaults and other on-the-job violence after a patient assaulted a nurse at the Brooklyn facility in 2014.

OSHA fines 2 employers more than $196K

Employers' names: The investigation was conducted at Sterling Seating Inc.'s furniture manufacturing plant at 9 Porete Avenue in North Arlington, New Jersey. On Target Staffing LLC, a staffing company that provided laborers for Sterling, is located at 258 Clifton Avenue in Newark, New Jersey.