TOLEDO, Ohio — Twice in two years, employees at P & W Painting Contractors were found in danger of falling as they worked on top of machines and elevated platforms more than 14 feet off the ground. After a complaint was filed, U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors identified one repeated and eight serious safety violations, including lack of fall protection and forklift hazards at the company's Toledo facility. OSHA has proposed penalties of $40,040.

MOSS POINT, Miss. — Two temporary workers hired to cut and weld pipes at the Omega Protein plant in Moss Point on July 28, 2014, had no idea and had no training to know that the storage tank beneath them contained explosive methane and hydrogen sulfide gases. One of the two men found out later as he lay in a hospital with a fractured skull, internal injuries and broken bones. The second, a 25-year-old man named Jerry Taylor, died when the tank exploded.

Employer name: Atlas Steel Coatings Inc.

Inspection site: 129 Philema Road, Albany, Georgia 31702

Date investigation initiated: OSHA initiated the investigation July 22, 2014, after receiving a complaint.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Workers at Georgia-Pacific Chemicals LLC were exposed to dangerous chemicals, such as formaldehyde and other potential health and safety hazards, because the company failed to implement proper chemical management procedures at its Columbus plant. An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration produced 11 serious violations with penalties totaling $60,500.

BEAR, Del. — A chance to get on-the-job training in construction turned tragic when a Delaware high school student suffered a severe head injury after a one-story fall off an unguarded balcony at a local construction site.

Minsa Corp. in Muleshoe, Texas, cited for 33 serious violations and $151,200 in fines

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — "Zimmer TMT is in the business of healthcare and should be aware of the potential health and safety hazards to which its employees could be exposed," said Kris Hoffman, director of OSHA's Parsippany Area Office. "Chlorine gas is poisonous and can cause death. Employers using highly hazardous chemicals absolutely must be prepared for emergencies, and this company clearly was not."

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A 22-year-old apprentice ironworker fell more than 30 feet to his death while standing on a 9-inch-wide steel girder on a building under construction in Kansas City. On the job for just a few weeks, the worker was not provided fall protection by his employer, Fastrack Erectors Inc., a subcontractor on the construction job. After an investigation into the July 25, 2014, fatality, the U.S.

PITTSBURG, Kan. — Two Lone Star Management LLC employees were directed to use a gas-powered forklift to move pallets of fireworks and cardboard out of an explosives storage facility in Pittsburg when the gas ignited, which caused an explosion and fire. Within seconds, the trapped employees became engulfed in flames. The inferno took the life of one 28-year-old worker and left a 43-year-old co-worker to suffer with burns over 80 percent of his body and the possibility of never working again.

US Chutes Corp. faces $94,248 in fines for repeated and serious violations

HARTFORD, Conn. — U.S. Chutes Corp. exposed employees to chemical, mechanical, electrical and respiratory hazards during the manufacturing process at its Bantam plant, an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found. A manufacturer of galvanized chutes for laundry and trash conveyors, the company faces $94,248 in fines.

WESTON, Ohio — While operating an industrial machine, a worker at MCM Precision Castings Inc. was exposed to noise levels that averaged 97 decibels, equal to the noise of a jackhammer, over his eight-hour shift. MCM Precision Castings Inc. employees were also exposed to dangerously high noise levels and crystalline silica dust, a cause of chronic lung disease, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found.

ROSS, N.D. —For the eighth time, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Northern Excavating Co. for allowing its employees to work at great risk in trenches without cave-in protection and a safe means to exit the trench.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Workers doing renovation at the former Dye Works at 15 Cottage St. in Easthampton faced potentially fatal falls of up to 40 feet because their employers failed to provide proper protection, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found. OSHA inspectors visited the work site on July 11, 2014, in response to a complaint about fall hazards there.

LUCASVILLE, Ohio — Faced one night with a trip over mountainous terrain in a medical transport helicopter with a faulty emergency locator transmitter, a pilot refused to fly the unsafe aircraft and was later terminated in retaliation for doing so. An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration followed. As a result, Air Methods Corp. was ordered to reinstate the pilot, pay $158,000 in back wages and $8,500 in damages, and remove disciplinary information from the employee's personnel record.

LUCASVILLE, Ohio — Faced one night with a trip over mountainous terrain in a medical transport helicopter with a faulty emergency locator transmitter, a pilot refused to fly the unsafe aircraft and was later terminated in retaliation for doing so. An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration followed. As a result, Air Methods Corp. was ordered to reinstate the pilot, pay $158,000 in back wages and $8,500 in damages, and remove disciplinary information from the employee's personnel record.

OSHA cites Transition of Superior Systems for 25 serious violations; fines total $51,600

LUBBOCK, Texas — Working at an industrial facility is dangerous. An employer who ignores serious hazards and puts workers in harm's way threatens everyone's well-being, a point not lost on U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators who identified 25 serious safety and health violations after a July 2014 inspection at Transition of Superior Systems in Merkel. Fines totaled $51,600.

PEKIN, Ill. — A 37-year-old worker at Agridyne's Pekin facility climbed down into a rail car to clean out corn steep residue and was overcome by dangerous hydrogen sulfide gas. A 29-year-old tank inspector, who attempted to rescue the first worker, succumbed to the gas exposure as well. Neither worker made it out of the car alive.