Employer name: Alin Machining Company Inc., doing business as Power Plant ServicesInvestigation site: 3131 W. Soffel Ave. Melrose Park, Illinois

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: On March 4, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Chicago North Area Office initiated an inspection after Alin Machining Company reported that a worker had suffered a severe finger laceration while operating a lathe.

OKLAHOMA CITY — An open-flame heater on the floor of a rig likely sparked the fire that killed three natural gas drillers and seriously injured two others in a December 2014 drilling rig fire in Coalgate, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has concluded.

In June 2013, OSHA cited the company for allowing the use of an open-flame heater.

Employer Name and Location: Frame carpentry contractor Express Construction 3 Corp. is located at 64 Wright Street, 2nd Floor, in Newark, New Jersey. The investigation was conducted at The Mews at Liberty Village, a residential construction project in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania.

SEATTLE — North America's second-largest freight railroad, Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC, must reinstate a train conductor and pay the man $536,063 in back pay, damages and attorney's fees after a federal investigation found the rail operator retaliated against its employee after reporting a knee injury.

BOSTON — A Tyngsboro company that supplies temporary employees to businesses has agreed to enhanced workplace safety and health protections for workers it places in all those businesses in a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor.

The department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Marathon Staffing Services Inc. for a serious violation in December 2014 for not providing hearing tests for its employees exposed to high noise levels while working on assignment at Concrete Systems Inc. in Hudson, New Hampshire.

Employer name: Canton Drop Forge

Investigation site: 4575 Southway SW, Canton, Ohio

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — If they had been in place, safety mechanisms might have saved a 62-year-old parts assembler who died after he was struck by a 4-pound metal spacer that flew off a 4-ton hydraulic press, U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors determined.

Employer name: Gaspar Fuentes

Sites: Both sites were in Fort Worth, Texas

Employer name: Cycle Tex Inc.

Inspection site: 906 East Hermitage Road, Rome, Georgia 30161

Date inspection initiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated the Jan. 20, 2015, inspection after the agency received a complaint.

Employer name: Republic Steel Canton, Ohio

Investigation site: 1807 E. 28th Street Lorain, Ohio

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: On Dec. 12, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Toledo Area Office initiated an inspection at Republic Steel's Lorain, Ohio, mill after receiving a report that a worker fell from a height of about 12 feet. The 17-year-employee suffered contusions to the back, shoulder and abdomen.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — An East Greenwich company that conducts wellness clinics throughout the U.S. inadequately protected its employees against exposure from contaminated needlesticks and bloodborne pathogen hazards, an inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found.

PHILADELPHIA — Robert D. Kulick, acting OSHA regional administrator in Philadelphia, issued the following statement about roofing company owner James J. McCullagh being charged by indictment today in connection with the fatal fall of an employee.

CLAYCOMO, Mo. — The death of a 52-year-old contractor, crushed by a conveyor carriage weighing nearly 4 tons at an automotive assembly plant, could have been averted if his employer followed federal safety standards, U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators determined.

In December 2014, a weld failure caused a temporary support safety pin to disengage on an assembly line conveyor carriage at the Ford Kansas City Assembly Plant in Claycomo. The 7,600-pound carriage then fell on the worker.

Employer Name: Venture Chemicals Inc.

Location: Seagraves, Texas

Date Inspection Initiated and What Prompted the Inspection: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration opened the inspection in December 2014 after an employee was fatally caught in a mixer/auger bin.

Employer name: Contender Boats Inc.

Inspection site: 1820 SE 38th Avenue, Homestead, Florida 33035

Date inspection initiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated the Dec. 16, 2014, inspection as part of the agency's Site Specific Targeting Program.

HONOLULU — Stronger safety measures may have saved the lives of two workers who died at a Pearl Harbor naval maintenance facility in December 2014 after being struck by a 7-ton buoy, which has led the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration to order safety upgrades.

Employer name: Tip Top Roofing & Construction/Tip Top Exteriors Inc. 2030 Coltonville Road, Sycamore, Illinois

Investigation site: 1990 Town Drive Naperville, Illinois

Employer name: Shoreline Foundation Inc.

Inspection site: 2781 SW 56th Avenue, Pembroke Park, Florida 33023

Date inspection initiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated the Dec. 18, 2014, inspection after receiving a complaint alleging workplace hazards.

Investigation finds electric heater and fumes caused gas explosion

CUMMINGS, Kan. — Two workers endured several weeks of skin graft surgery and physical therapy after suffering second-degree burns when gas vapors exploded in a railcar in December 2014 at GBW Railcar Services LLC. The car was being prepared for cleaning when an electric heater ignited the flammable gas. Seven other workers were treated for injuries and released from the hospital.