HARTFORD, Conn. — Metro-North's actions against an injured worker have resulted in the largest punitive damages ever in a retaliation case under the Federal Railroad Safety Act. A recent investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration uncovered these details and revealed that the worker, who is employed as a coach cleaner for the commuter rail carrier, was retaliated against after reporting the knee injury he suffered on Nov. 17, 2011.

HARTFORD, Conn. — Metro-North's actions against an injured worker have resulted in the largest punitive damages ever in a retaliation case under the Federal Railroad Safety Act. A recent investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration uncovered these details and revealed that the worker, who is employed as a coach cleaner for the commuter rail carrier, was retaliated against after reporting the knee injury he suffered on Nov. 17, 2011.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — A distribution warehouse for beverage manufacturer Anheuser-Busch InBev SA, makers of Budweiser, Bud Light and Corona beer, willfully put workers at risk of serious injury. Doing business as Anheuser-Busch Sales of New Jersey, the company exposed permanent and temporary workers to hazards that involved powered industrial trucks and other dangers at its Jersey City facility, an investigation on June 4, 2014, by the U.S.

KEARNEY, Neb. — A dehydrated 53-year-old Eaton Corp. employee suffered acute kidney failure while working in extreme indoor heat at the company's automotive manufacturing plant. The employee, who worked at the facility for 20 years, operated industrial machinery at the Kearney plant on July 11, 2014, when the heat index soared to 101 degrees. The worker later recovered after being hospitalized for more than 24 hours to treat the illness.

DARIEN, Wis. — One would expect subzero temperatures in the Arctic Circle and understand the need for a coat, but employees working in a 40-degree-below-zero Fahrenheit freezer at Birds Eye Foods Inc. in Darien were left in the cold. An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that the company expected employees to work in extreme temperatures without properly insulated personal protective equipment.

MINE HILL, N.J. — Permanent and temporary workers were exposed to workplace dangers, including chemical hazards and vapors from flammable liquids, at a Fiabila USA Inc. facility in Mine Hill. Following a complaint, an inspection in May 2014 by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found Fiabila workers and temporary workers employed by two staffing agencies were exposed to hazards and other dangerous safety and health violations at the plant.

GREELEY, Colo. — A 54-year-old worker was fatally injured when his hair and arm caught in an unguarded conveyor system. His employer, JBS USA LLC, failed to protect workers from moving machine parts by properly guarding or de-energizing the equipment, an inspection in June 2014 by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found. The agency cited the meat packing plant for one repeated and one serious violation.

BAYTOWN, Texas — Employees who perform maintenance work on a metal cutting machine must be trained to safely de-energize the machinery and conduct periodic audits of those procedures, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. An OSHA inspection on June 10, 2014, of the JSW Steel (USA) Inc. Baytown facility found the company violated 12 safety requirements. Proposed penalties total $126,000.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Vallencourt Construction Co. Inc. knowingly endangered employees at a residential construction site by allowing them to work in an unprotected excavation on Las Calinas Boulevard in St. Augustine. Following a June 2014 inspection, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Vallencourt for two willful and five serious safety violations. Proposed penalties total $169,000.

BELVIDERE, Ill. — A 21-year-old machine operator was fatally crushed at Ventra Belvidere LLC while reaching into a machine to align parts made for Chrysler vehicles. Following an investigation into the incident on June 10, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the Belvidere facility for one willful and four serious safety violations for exposing workers to dangerous machinery and other hazards.

SEATTLE — Computer Sciences Corp. improperly laid off two employees for raising nuclear safety concerns about the Hanford nuclear facility, in violation of federal whistleblower laws. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has ordered the company to pay $186,000 in wages to the two employees.

FOSTORIA, Ohio — All-Set Roofing and Construction Inc. allowed three employees to work 15 feet up on a roof to install shingles without fall protection at a residence in Fostoria. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited the Bowling Green company for one willful and one repeat violation, with proposed penalties of $44,660.

LEWISBURG, Ohio — A 44-year-old machine operator suffered severe injuries when a part of his face was caught in a power press he operated at Parker Hannifin Corp.'s Lewisburg, Ohio, plant. An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued one repeat citation and two serious safety violations for exposing the worker to machinery operating parts with inadequate safeguards. Proposed penalties total $52,500.

MORTON GROVE, Ill. — Two workers installing a water main at Golf Road and Sayre Avenue in Morton Grove were exposed to cave-in hazards that can bury a person in mere minutes. An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found A. Lamp Concrete Contractors Inc. responsible for one willful violation because it failed to protect workers from cave-ins during trenching operations. The proposed penalty totals $69,300.

WAKEFIELD, Neb. — Violations of the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration confined spaces safety regulations led to the death of a worker on June 19, 2014, at Michael Foods Inc. in Wakefield. The 23-year-old Latino worker was found unresponsive in a tanker truck at the company's Big Red Farms facility. He was conducting sampling of the tank, which contained egg products and nitrogen.

MOUNDS, Ill. — A U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation found that Environmental Remediation and Recovery Inc. did not have equipment or trained personnel to rescue a 27-year-old worker promptly who collapsed and later died while cleaning a rail car. OSHA has cited seven willful and 14 serious safety violations, many involving permit-required confined space safety regulations.

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — Workers constructing a precast concrete building at 33 Ashburton Ave. in Yonkers faced potentially deadly or disabling falls, electrocution and other hazards, which led the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration to cite four New York contractors for safety and health violations.

WASHINGTON — Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, today issued the following statement on the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2013 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses:

EL PASO, Texas — A federal inspection prompted by employee complaints found workers exposed to amputations and other hazards at D&D Manufacturing Inc. The El Paso company has been cited for 41 safety and health violations, including 36 serious violations, by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.