CLEVELAND ‒ Federal inspectors found toxic exposure to aniline that sent a 56-year-old service technician to the hospital occurred because adequate safeguards were not in place. 

Employer name: Plastics Engineering Company

Inspection site: 2732 North 15^th Street, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Citations issued: Feb. 22, 2016

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Appleton Area Office cited Plastic Engineering Company for one willful, five serious and one other-than-serious safety violation.

SEATTLE – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has ordered an Alaska aviation company to pay years of back wages, $100,000 in compensatory damages, and to reinstate a pilot who had been suspended, then fired and ostracized among the close-knit industry for reporting safety concerns at work.

Participants: U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, West Texas Safety Training Center Inc., Odessa, Texas

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Copper wire manufacturer Tecnofil Chenango SAC continues to expose workers at its Sherburne manufacturing plant to potential deadly or disabling injuries due to missing or inadequate safeguards for machines used in the manufacturing process, an inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found.

PITTSBURGH – In 2014, two U.S. Steel Corp., employees reported injuries that may have resulted from worksite incidents occurring a few days earlier. At the time of the incidents, the employees were unaware they had suffered injuries, as symptoms did not develop until later. When the workers realized and reported their injuries, U.S. Steel suspended both workers without pay for violating the company’s immediate reporting policy.

BUFFALO, N.Y. – He took the right step, and was fired for it.

He was a demolition and asbestos abatement laborer employed by Regional Environmental Demolition Inc. at an asbestos abatement project in Buffalo from April to June 2014. At the job site at 527 West Utica St., the man observed weakened or deteriorated sections of flooring called “soft spots.” At one spot, his foot broke through the floor.

BRAINTREE, Mass. – Kevin Miranda’s death could have been prevented if his employer, Skyline Contracting and Roofing Corp. of Taunton, had followed industry and federal safety standards, an inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found.

Employer(s) name(s): Richmond American Homes of Colorado Inc.
d-7 Roofing LLC

Worksites: Residential housing projects in Littleton and Aurora, Colorado

Citations issued: Feb. 22, 2016

Date of action: Feb. 1, 2016

Type of action: Decision and Order

Names of defendant: David Dzenutis dba Royal Construction Company, a roofing contractor in Canton, Connecticut.

Employer’s names: John Whigham Sheeting Inc.
Ezzo Construction LLC
S.A. Robinson Construction
KB Home Florida LLC

Inspection site: Abby Glen subdivision, Jacksonville, Florida 32257

Citations issued: Citations were issued to the employers on Feb. 17.

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

Associated General Contractors Panhandle of Texas Chapter, Amarillo, Texas

Employer name: Primecraft Doors Inc.

Location: Malvern, Arkansas

Citations issued: Feb. 16, 2016

Employer name: Leon Ray Burkholder, doing business as Burkholder Builders, at 580 Indiantown Rd., Ephrata, Pennsylvania

Inspection site: Multi-family residential construction project at 443-447 Marlene Way in Leola.

CONCORD, N.H. – The circus tent that collapsed in Lancaster during a sudden downdraft of air called a “micro-burst” on Aug. 3, 2015, was not properly erected and the circus operator, Walker International Events, did not follow repeated National Weather Service storm warnings, an inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found.

The collapse killed two audience members and injured dozens of others, including two circus employees,

Employer name: Crothall Laundry Services Inc.

Inspection site: 9905 S. 13^th St., Oak Creek, Wisconsin

Citations issued: Feb. 9, 2016

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Milwaukee area office cited Crothall Laundry Services for six serious safety violations.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The structural steel collapse at Bryant University in Smithfield that injured six workers on Sept. 1, 2015, could have been prevented, an inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has determined.

ATLANTA – As they recover from the impacts of severe storms and tornadoes, Mississippi’s emergency workers, employers, and the public at-large should be aware of the hazards they may encounter and take necessary steps to stay safe, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration urges.

Employer name: Midwest Farmers Cooperative

Inspection site: 17700 South 1^st St., Martell, Nebraska

Citations issued: Feb. 11, 2016

Employer name: Republic Wire Inc.

Inspection site: 5525 Union Centre Drive, West Chester, Ohio

Citations issued: Feb. 10, 2016

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Cincinnati Area Office cited Republic Wire for one willful, four serious and one other-than-serious violation.