OSHA proposes nearly $172K in penalties for 3 New Jersey employers

Employers' Names and Locations: The production warehouse of soft drink manufacturer Whitlock Packaging Corp. is located at 92 N. Main St. in Wharton, New Jersey.

Customized Distribution Services Inc., a general warehousing and storage contractor hired by Whitlock to run the warehouse's day-to-day operations, is located at 20 Harry Shupe Blvd. in Wharton.

WINESBURG, Ohio — Less than two years after agreeing to address safety violations in a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Case Farms Processing Inc. exposed workers to the same dangerous machinery hazards at its Winesburg facility.

BOISE, Idaho — Every month, somewhere in the U.S., two people die in trench cave-ins — buried or crushed by the tremendous weight of falling earth. In fact, one cubic yard of soil can be equal to the weight of a small automobile, about 3,000 pounds. These needless deaths can be prevented with proper cave-in protections.

Despite these realities, some contractors continue to ignore the serious dangers of unprotected trenches and allow employees to work below ground level at great risk.

AVENEL, N.J. — The life of a 46-year-old demolition worker, killed in a building collapse in November 2014 at a Staten Island auto dealership, could have been spared if his employer had not disregarded federal safety rules.

Delfino Jesus Velazquez Mendizabal died when the mezzanine of the former Dana Ford Lincoln dealership collapsed on him. A husband and father, Mendizabal was employed by Formica Construction Co. Inc., a Port Richmond, New York, contractor.

Magnetic Metals Corp. fined $53,900 for 15 federal violations

Employer Name and Location: Magnetic Metals Corp., located at 1900 Hayes Avenue in Camden, New Jersey, manufactures soft magnetic materials for products including motors and transformers.

CORDELE, Ga. — A job should be a source of personal accomplishment and pride, not the cause of disability and unemployment. A 29-year-old temporary worker suffered the latter at a local sawmill operated by Griffin Lumber & Hardware. The man's left arm was amputated when his jacket was caught in the drive shaft of a conveyor belt in January.

OSHA fines Welco Acetylene Corp. $57,400

Employer Name and Location: The acetylene repackaging facility of industrial gas manufacturer Welco Acetylene Corp. is located at 321 Roanoke Place in Newark, New Jersey.

Employer name: Panolam Industries International Inc.

Inspection site: 6300 Atlantic Blvd., Norcross, Georgia 30071

Date inspection initiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated the Nov. 20, 2014 inspection after receiving a complaint alleging workplace safety hazards.

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — A blocked or obstructed exit route can be the difference between life and death. Despite the clear risks, Conway Stores' Bronx location jeopardized workers and shoppers despite two warnings from federal safety inspectors in December 2014.

Employer name: Superior Roll Forming Company, Inc.

Investigation site: 5535 Wegman Drive, Valley City, Ohio 44280

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: On March 2, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Cleveland office initiated an inspection at the metal stamping plant after a 55-year-old worker's left index finger was crushed between weld clamps.

BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — Alfa Laval Inc. faces $477,900 in proposed penalties after U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspections discovered dozens of serious workplace safety violations, five of which were identified in previous inspections.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A foundry, its owner and three members of its safety consultant company have been found in criminal contempt by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips after disobeying a court order to allow federal inspectors to investigate a report of an employee at the foundry with an elevated blood lead level.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A total of 18 workers were hospitalized after exposure to deadly carbon monoxide gas levels of up to 6.71 times the permissible limit, U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors found.

OSHA investigators determined that JRI Holdings Inc. employees in November 2014 were testing a commercial industrial parts washer powered by two natural gas heaters. Employees were working inside a building with its doors closed because of cold temperatures, which limited ventilation.

Employer name: Lebanon Seaboard Corporation

Investigation site: 508 W. Ross Lane, Danville, Illinois

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: On Dec. 30, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Peoria office initiated an inspection at the fertilizer manufacturer. The company was on the 2014 Site Specific Targeting List for high-hazard industries.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Skylights are a useful way to allow sunlight into a room or other space, but without safety guards or covers, they can expose rooftop workers to catastrophic falls, serious injury and death.

Atop a warehouse on Powers Avenue in Jacksonville, roofer John W. Miles III crashed through a skylight without an adequate safety cage and plunged more than 24 feet to the ground below. He was admitted to an area hospital in critical condition and later died of his injuries.

CLEVELAND — Workers were at risk while using steam hammers and hot metal power presses to forge metal at Sifco Industries Inc. U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors found these and other hazards during a November 2014 inspection of the Cleveland-based forging plant.

Employer name: Suburban Propane Partners LP

Site: Fort Worth, Texas

Date initiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration began investigating the propane gas facility in November 2014.

Employer name: Allied Metals LLC

Inspection site: At the time of the inspection, workers were recycling metal at the company's warehouse located at 2902 NW 32nd Avenue, Miami, Florida 33142.

Date inspection initiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated the Nov. 21, 2014 inspection as part of the agency's Site Specific Targeting Program.

CALUMET CITY, Ill. — Workers at two Chicago-area Dollar Tree Inc. stores were exposed to safety hazards from blocked exit routes and boxes piled at dangerous heights. The national retailer, who recorded sales of $8.6 billion in 2014, has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for more than 200 safety and health violations across the nation since 2009.

BEAR, Del. — Boxes and excess merchandise could be a matter of life or death for workers at a Dollar General store in Bear, where federal inspectors found emergency exits blocked, in violation of federal law.

The review by U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors was done in November 2014 at the store at 1679 Pulaski Highway, where four violations were found. Proposed penalties total $122,100.