STERLING, MA – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation found that a plastic packaging manufacturer – with a history of workplace safety and health inspections – could have prevented a worker at its Sterling facility from suffering severe burns if they had complied with OSHA’s requirements for lockout/tagout and provided personal protective equipment.

Who: 

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

Associated General Contractors of America

The Center for Construction Research and Training

ALBANY, NY – The U.S. Department of Labor filed suit against a New York ophthalmologist and his practice in Amsterdam for allegedly firing an employee who raised concerns about the practice’s failure to implement state-mandated protocols to protect employees from COVID-19, and later filed complaints with state health officials.

PROVIDENCE, RI – A federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that a Smithfield company could have prevented a worker from suffering fatal head injuries while the worker repaired a cement truck on Oct. 21, 2021.

Employer:

SCOTTSDALE, AZ – The U.S. Department of Labor has ordered a Scottsdale, Arizona-based ammunition manufacturer to pay compensatory damages, back wages and associated costs to an employee forced from its board of directors after reporting potentially illegal stock transactions.

Employer name: PGA Inc.

Inspection site: 185 South Street, Freeland, Pennsylvania 18224

GREENSBORO, NC – An employee working as a mechanic at the U.S. Postal Service’s distribution center in Greensboro suffered a life-changing injury on Sept. 27, 2021. The worker’s arm was amputated after contacting a machine that had a safety guard removed.

SAN DIEGO – A federal workplace safety investigation found that a 34-year-old worker’s fatal fall might have been prevented had the operator of a Pauma Valley zip-line attraction implemented required safety measures.

APPLETON, WI – Despite the serious consequences of its actions, an Appleton-based contractor was again cited for exposing  workers to deadly fall hazards after a U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspector observed six roofers atop a two-story Algoma duplex on Nov. 2, 2021 – about six months after the contractor’s last citations in June 2021.

PALISADES PARK, NJ – One of New Jersey’s most flagrant violators of federal workplace safety laws – who continually puts workers at risk of serious injuries or worse – is personally liable for $2 million in penalties assessed by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a federal administrative law judge has ruled.

CAMDEN, NJ – On Sept. 9, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated an inspection of My Auto Store after a vehicle lift crushed a worker’s hand in Camden.

ADGER, AL – A federal workplace safety investigation into the fatal electrocutions of two 19-year-old apprentices in Adger on Aug. 31, 2021, found their employer might have prevented the incident by ensuring required safety standards were followed, and that adequate supervision and training was provided.

KANSAS CITY, MO ‒ More than one in 10 people endure workplace noise levels loud enough to damage their hearing while seven in 10 experience moderately loud noise levels, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. Yet, in 2020, the bureau found that about half the nation’s workers reported

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced the availability of $3.2 million in funds from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 for Susan Harwood Workplace Safety and Health Training on Infectious Diseases, Including COVID-19 grants.

BATAVIA, OH ‒ An employer installing sanitation sewer pipes in a 15-foot-deep trench in Batavia exposed its employees to the hazard of collapsing walls by not installing trench safety boxes.

MCCALLA, AL – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has signed a strategic partnership with Brasfield & Gorrie Construction to promote worker safety and health during the construction of the University of Alabama’s Medical West project in McCalla. The University of Alabama SafeState is also supporting the partnership.

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Department of Labor has ordered a California business aviation provider to pay $958,000 in back wages and associated costs, and correct misinformation about a former employee who the employer retaliated against after they reported flight safety issues.

MARTINSBURG, WV – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Continental Brick Co. after an investigation found the employer exposed workers to respirable crystalline silica at the company’s brick manufacturing facility in Martinsburg.

NEW YORK – A federal investigation into a fatal workplace injury on Aug. 19, 2021, at a Town of Oyster Bay municipal building has found a Setauket roofing contractor failed to provide necessary safeguards to protect employees against falls.