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.

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.

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. 

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. 

WASHINGTON – U.S. Department of Labor officials and representatives from the Mexican Embassy and other diplomatic missions joined today to mark Labor Rights Week 2024 with an event promoting migrant workers’ rights and how the department is safeguarding these rights. 

DALLAS – The U.S. Department of Labor has ordered the Southlake location of a national childcare provider to reinstate an employee and pay $43,295 in back wages and damages after the employer fired them for reporting concerns about unsanitary and unsafe conditions in the facility’s kitchen to Texas health officials. 

HATTIESBURG, MS –The U.S. Department of Labor has reached a settlement agreement with a Hattiesburg poultry processing plant that requires the company to pay $164,814 in fines and implement enhanced safety measures to protect their employees from well-known machine hazards.

ORLANDO, FL – A subsidiary of one of the world’s best-known operators of convenience stores and fueling stations could have prevented a store cashier in Orlando from suffering a serious gunshot injury by following the company’s own established safety procedures, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found.

Date of action:                       Aug. 6, 2024

Type of action:                      Decision and order 

PALOS PARK, IL – A federal workplace safety investigation has found that a metro-Chicago carpentry contractor with a long history of exposing employees to potentially deadly hazards again ignored regulations to protect workers from falls.

ALBANY, NY – After receiving citations requiring it to correct existing fall hazards at its Chester warehouse, and paying $17,403 in penalties, Adidas America Inc. - maker of one of the world’s best-selling sneakers - now faces an additional $396,377 in penalties for continuing to ignore U.S. Department of Labor workplace safety standards.

JACKSONVILLE, TX – Despite receiving warnings and citations for more than a decade, a Jacksonville pallet manufacturer’s history of failing to protect employees from the risk of amputation continues, a U.S. Department of Labor follow-up inspection has found. 

OKLAHOMA CITY - An Edmond contractor with a history of workplace safety violations dating back to 2018, including three related to the dangers in underground trenches, was found disregarding U.S. Department of Labor regulations.

EL PASO, TX – An El Paso contractor could have prevented a 37-year-old employee from suffering fatal injuries in February 2024 by following federally required safety standards to avoid trench collapses, the same failure for which the U.S.

BOISE, ID – A federal workplace safety investigation into the fatal injury of three workers and injuries to at least eight others, after an airport hangar collapsed near the Boise Airport in January 2024, found the building contractor ignored standard safety procedures and visible warning signs during construction.