Employers:    Wholestone Farms Cooperative Inc.

                             900 South Platte Ave.

                             Fremont, NE 

TAMPA, FL – Rather than address the 15 existing safety and health hazards cited by federal workplace safety inspectors in July 2023, a Pinellas Park boat manufacturer continues to jeopardize the safety and health of its workers, according to a follow-up inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor.

HEMINGFORD, NE ‒ Federal investigators found life-threatening hazards at a Nebraska grain cooperative, where workers faced risks of fire and explosions due to the company allowing a buildup of combustible dust and failing to maintain effective dust collection systems, leading to more than $500,000 in proposed penalties. 

KANSAS CITY, MO – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration launched a regional emphasis program to address worker safety in the highly hazardous grain handling industry as preventable injuries and unchecked hazards continue to be a serious concern for workers in the region. The program in Missouri is identical to programs already in place in Kansas and Nebraska.

WAUKEGAN, IL – Chemical products manufacturer AB Specialty Silicones LLC will pay $1.3 million in penalties after an explosion and fire at its Waukegan plant in May 2019 claimed the lives of four workers. 

ENDERLIN, ND – A federal whistleblower investigation has found a North Dakota railroad company illegally retaliated against and terminated a claims representative who reported an injury, discussed safety concerns with their supervisor and filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor. 

ATLANTA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has completed changes to restructure its regional operations and created a new region to better protect workers and educate employers as businesses expand and workforces grow in communities in several southeastern states.

Among the changes is the creation of a new region based in Birmingham to serve Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and the Florida Panhandle.

DALLAS – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has completed changes to restructure its regional operations and created a new region to better protect workers and educate employers as businesses expand and workforces grow in communities in several southeastern states.

Among the changes is the creation of a new region based in Birmingham to serve Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and the Florida Panhandle.

SAN FRANCISCO –  The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has completed changes to restructure its regional operations and created a region to better protect workers and educate employers as businesses expand and workforces grow in communities in several southeastern states.

Who:   U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration

            Emergency and recovery response crews, residents in areas affected by Hurricane Helene

MAUGANSVILLE, MD - The U.S. Department of Labor has ordered a Maugansville transportation company to reinstate an employee and pay them $46,094 in back wages and damages after finding the employer wrongly terminated the worker for refusing to drive an oversized load in an unsafe manner.

SEALY, TEXAS – A federal workplace safety investigation revealed that an employee suffered serious injuries to their arm while trying to clear debris during manufacturing of copper alloy products. The investigation determined that the plant’s operator failed to install required machine guards or locking devices, exposing workers to hazardous contact with moving machine parts.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today awarded $12.7 million to 102 nonprofits nationwide to fund education and training initiatives designed to create safer workplaces.

ASHTABULA, OH ‒ Federal safety inspectors found a crew working aboard the Cuyahoga, a commercial iron ore vessel moored at the Port of Ashtabula, narrowly avoided disaster after a large fire erupted as they welded off paint in a cargo hold, an incident their employer could have avoided by following U.S. Department of Labor safety regulations. 

STEPHENSON, VA – A federal whistleblower investigation has found a subsidiary of one of the world’s largest building materials manufacturers fired a truck driver in September 2023 illegally after the employee raised concerns that the loads and routes their employer routinely assigned left them fatigued and ill, endangering themselves and others on the road.

WATERTOWN, WI – Federal workplace safety inspectors found a Wisconsin animal food producer exposed employees to the risks of explosions, fires and long-term respiratory illnesses from excessive amounts of airborne dust, among two dozen safety and health violations they identified. 

VERONA, WI – A suburban Madison contractor with a history of federal safety failures – including violations that led to an employee’s fatal injuries in 2022 – has again been found exposing workers to the construction industry’s most deadly hazard — falls from elevation — during a federal safety inspection in February 2024.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the opening of the public comment period for its proposed rule intended to protect millions of workers from the significant health risks of extreme heat and its publication in the Federal Register. 

CHICAGO ‒ Federal safety inspectors became aware that a 31-year-old employee of a Chicago countertop manufacturer needed a double lung transplant after suffering accelerated silicosis ‒ an incurable lung disease – and the U.S. Department of Labor immediately alerted the company of the potential imminent danger and an inspection by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found workers exposed to silica levels up to six times greater than permissible limits. 

WASHINGTON – As the nation begins Labor Rights Week, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Republic of Colombia today announced the South American country has joined the Consular Partnership Program to raise awareness among Colombians working in the U.S. about regulations protecting them in America’s workplaces.