SYRACUSE, NY — Serious workplace safety violations were found in connection with the September 2013 explosion at the Canastota Wastewater Treatment Plant that killed one worker and injured another. Joy Process Mechanical Inc. of East Syracuse and M. Hubbard Construction Inc. of Mottville were hired by the plant to replace piping inside a methane gas dome, a confined space.

WASHINGTON — A maintenance worker fell to his death Jan. 31 from a cell tower in Cameron County, Texas. The next day, a cell phone tower collapsed in Clarksburg, W.Va. Minutes later a second tower at the same Clarksburg site also fell. The collapse of these two towers resulted in the deaths of two workers and a firefighter responding to the scene, and sent two other employees to the hospital with serious injuries.

CLEVELAND — Workers suspended without pay for reporting workplace injuries has prompted a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The department filed the lawsuit against The Ohio Bell Telephone Company, which operates as AT&T, on behalf of 13 employees who received unpaid suspensions after reporting work place injuries from 2011 to 2013.

BRAINTREE, Mass. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Wakefield excavation and utilities contractor Joseph P. Cardillo & Son Inc. for willful and serious violations of excavation safety standards at a Milton work site. Cardillo faces $144,400 in proposed fines following an inspection by OSHA's Braintree Area Office begun on Aug. 6, 2013, in response to an anonymous complaint.

WARMINSTER, Pa. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Philadelphia Macaroni for 13 alleged workplace safety and health violations — five of them repeat — at its Warminster facility. OSHA proposed $75,483 in penalties following a July 2013 inspection initiated under its Site-Specific Targeting Program that directs enforcement resources to workplaces with the highest injury and illness rates.

HARTFORD, Conn. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Radcliff Wire Inc. for serious and repeat violations of workplace safety standards following an inspection by OSHA's Hartford Area Office. An inspection of the Bristol wire products manufacturer began on July 23, 2013, under OSHA's Site Specific Targeting Program, resulting in $109,340 in proposed fines.

NEW YORK — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Cooper Tank & Welding Corp., doing business as Cooper Tank Recycling, for eight serious health and safety violations following the heat-related death of a 64-year-old worker at the Brooklyn recycling facility on 222 Maspeth Ave.

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited The Roof Authority Inc. of Fort Pierce for one willful and one serious safety violation following an August 2013 inspection at a job site on North Palm-Aire Drive in Pompano Beach. OSHA conducted its inspection as part of the agency's regional emphasis program for falls in construction. Proposed penalties total $59,290.

PENSACOLA, Fla. — Teen Challenge of Florida Inc., an international rehabilitation program, has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration with 25 safety and health violations following an inspection of the company's facilities in Pensacola. OSHA initiated the July 2013 inspection after receiving a complaint alleging safety and health hazards. Proposed penalties total $228,600.

ATLANTA —— The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited American Air Filter Co. Inc., doing business as AAF International, with two repeat, five serious and one other-than-serious safety violation following an inspection of the company's manufacturing facility on Weaver Way in Atlanta. The inspection, prompted by a complaint, began in August 2013. It resulted in $64,040 in proposed penalties.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration today launched a new educational Web resource, http://www.osha.gov/hospitals, which has extensive materials to help hospitals prevent worker injuries, assess workplace safety needs, enhance safe patient handling programs, and implement safety and health management systems. The materials include fact books, self-assessments and best practice guides.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration will host a live Web chat to discuss the agency's proposed rule on occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica from 1 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. EST, Tuesday, Jan. 14. Visit http://www.osha.gov/silica/webchat.html to participate.

Editor's Note: This re-issued News Statement clarifies the length of the sentences imposed in the case.

Editor's Note: This re-issued News Statement clarifies the length of the sentences imposed in the case.

Company placed in Severe Violator Enforcement Program

FRANKLIN, Ohio — Cheney Pulp and Paper Co. has been cited for two safety violations by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration after a worker was fatally injured July 23 at the Franklin paper mill. While operating a forklift without the rollover protection structure, the worker was struck by an operating machine that he traveled beneath. As a result of the inspection, OSHA placed the company in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced four rules designed to reduce unnecessary burdens on employers by updating or rescinding obsolete regulations and requirements. A rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration updates and streamlines the standards for the use of mechanical power presses while the remaining three rules from the Employment and Training Administration rescind outdated Foreign Labor Certification regulations for the H-2A, F-1 and H-1A programs.

NORTH CANTON, Ohio — Under terms of a consent judgment, a now defunct North Canton, Ohio-based company, Star Air Inc., and owner Robert R. Custer, will pay two Ohio truck drivers $302,000 to resolve a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor for terminating two of the company's drivers in violation of the 1982 Surface Transportation Assistance Act's whistleblower provisions.

NORTH CANTON, Ohio — Under terms of a consent judgment, a now defunct North Canton, Ohio-based company, Star Air Inc., and owner Robert R. Custer, will pay two Ohio truck drivers $302,000 to resolve a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor for terminating two of the company's drivers in violation of the 1982 Surface Transportation Assistance Act's whistleblower provisions.

WASHINGTON — In advance of the holiday season, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is encouraging retail employers to take precautions to prevent workplace injuries during major sales events, including Black Friday.