DU QUOIN, Ill. — A truck driver, who was fired the morning after he filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration alleging unsafe working conditions, will receive $33,000 under terms of a settlement agreement. The agreement resolves a lawsuit brought against employers Perry Ridge Landfill Inc., Panther City Hauling and their corporate officer, Joseph Mazza, for violating the whistleblower provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

Employer name: Pregis Corp., a manufacturer of foam, paper and plastic packaging materials

Inspection site: 300 Lower Warren St., Queensbury, New York 12804

ATLANTA — The Federal Highway Administration, the state of Georgia and local government organizations are partnering with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration to sponsor a one-hour Safety Stand-Down at construction sites in Georgia in conjunction with National Highway Work Zone Awareness Week from March 23-27.

Employer name: Mt. Vernon Barge Services, Jeffersonville, Indiana

Investigation site: 5804 Utica Pike, Jeffersonville, Indiana

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. — For the third time since 2011, the Union Pacific Railroad has violated the Federal Railroad Safety Act at its yard in North Platte by disciplining employees who reported workplace injuries and sought medical attention, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found. Since 2001, the company has faced more than 200 whistleblower complaints nationwide.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. — For the third time since 2011, the Union Pacific Railroad has violated the Federal Railroad Safety Act at its yard in North Platte by disciplining employees who reported workplace injuries and sought medical attention, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found. Since 2001, the company has faced more than 200 whistleblower complaints nationwide.

LA BELLE, Mo. — A 35-year-old worker doing maintenance on an overhead door's pulleys died after he fell off a 12-foot ladder onto a concrete floor at a dairy farm in La Belle, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has concluded. An OSHA investigation of the Sept. 1, 2014, incident identified eight serious safety violations, including failing to de-energize equipment, confined space and chemical hazards.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — World Kitchen LLC makes dinnerware for well-known brand names, such as Corelle and CorningWare. Less well-known is that workers at the company's Corning manufacturing plant have been exposed to a variety of hazards that put their health and safety at risk.

NEW YORK — It began as a routine safety inspection in August 2012 at the New York City Transit Authority's Linden Shop maintenance facility in Brooklyn. It ended with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration finding that the transit authority and one of its supervisors discriminated against an employee for exercising his safety rights under the National Transit Systems Security Act. As a result, OSHA has ordered the NYCTA and supervisor Mark Ruggerio to pay the employee $52,500 in damages and take other corrective action.

Employer name: Health Care Products Inc.

Investigation site: 410 Nisco Street, Coldwater, Ohio

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: On Nov. 25, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Toledo Area Office initiated an inspection of the feminine hygiene product manufacturer after receiving a complaint alleging unsafe working conductions.

Employer name: United States Postal Service

Investigation site: Main Post Office, 1165 2nd Ave., Des Moines, Iowa

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: On Oct. 2, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated an inspection of the main post office in Des Moines after receiving an employee complaint alleging that unsafe forklifts were being used at the facility.

Employer name: Bruegger's Enterprises, Inc., doing business as Bruegger's Bagels

Inspection site: 2000 Cecil Ashburn Drive SE, Huntsville, Alabama 35802

FAIRFIELD, Ohio — A 53-year-old bowling alley worker was asphyxiated when his hooded sweatshirt was caught in a pinsetter at Northwest Lanes in Fairfield because the machine's operating parts were improperly exposed, an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found.

ROCKFORD, Ill. — Once again, workers were exposed to dangerous amputation hazards during maintenance and while processing scrap metal because safety mechanisms were not in place at Behr Iron & Steel facilities in Rockford and Peoria. The September 2014 inspections by the U.S.

Employer name: Nova Southeastern University

Inspection site: 3301 College Ave., Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33314

Date inspection initiated: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated the investigation on Nov. 5, 2014, after receiving a complaint about faculty in the anatomy lab being exposed to formaldehyde.

Inspection findings:

Employer name: Hope Elephants

Inspection site: 49 Hatchet Rd., Hope, Maine 04847

Date of incident: James Laurita, co-founder, curator and elephant manager of the Hope Elephant Refuge was found dead in the refuge's compound on Sept. 9, 2014, with a crushed chest.

Niece Products of Kansas faces more than $60K in fines for endangering workers

Roofing contractor flouts prior court order; continues to put workers at risk of falls

BOSTON — A Maine roofing contractor's continued refusal to obey a federal court order to correct safety hazards and pay more than $400,000 in fines could send him to jail.

Employer name: Hi Temp Northlake LLC, operating as Bluewater Thermal Solutions in Northlake, Illinois, a subsidiary of Bluewater Thermal Solutions of Greenville, South Carolina. The company specializes in heat treating powder metal parts.

Inspection site: Bluewater Thermal Solutions, 75 E. Lake St. Northlake, Illinois

Employer name and location: Framing, siding, and roofing contractor K&F Construction Inc., P.O. Box 6013, Martinsburg, W. Va. 25402

Inspection site: Suncrest Village, 1000 Suncrest Village, Morgantown, W. Va. 26505, where K&F Construction employees performed roofing operations as part of the construction of three-story townhomes.