BOSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Florida-based Walker International Events on Feb. 4, 2016, for 14 serious violations of workplace safety standards in connection with a circus tent collapse in Lancaster, New Hampshire on Aug. 3, 2015, during a severe thunderstorm.

SEATTLE – For longshoremen who load and offload timber in the upper Northwest, every ship that sails into port carries a reminder of the litany of hazards they face at work. Loads of extremely heavy logs must be handled carefully to avoid serious and potentially fatal injuries. At the same time, employers must take all necessary steps to ensure the work area is free of avoidable hazards – a lesson apparently lost on a Seattle-based cargo handling company following the June 2016 death of a 48-year-old longshoreman.

SEATTLE – For longshoremen who load and offload timber in the upper Northwest, every ship that sails into port carries a reminder of the litany of hazards they face at work. Loads of extremely heavy logs must be handled carefully to avoid serious and potentially fatal injuries. At the same time, employers must take all necessary steps to ensure the work area is free of avoidable hazards – a lesson apparently lost on a Seattle-based cargo handling company following the June 2016 death of a 48-year-old longshoreman.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. General Services Administration, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor, today announced the conclusion of the site evaluations for the new DOL headquarters. GSA has identified three sites as potential locations. The conclusion of the site evaluations is part of GSA’s continued effort to explore options for a new DOL headquarters that would help enable the department’s mission to support a 21st century workforce.

The shortlist for a new DOL headquarters are:

Date of Action: Nov. 28, 2016

Type of Action: Family and Medical Leave Act complaint

Name of Defendants: Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital

MINNEAPOLIS – A Minnesota-based company has agreed to pay 15,909 employees nationwide a total of $976,765 – $488,229 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages – after a federal investigation found the employer violated federal minimum wage requirements at its health clubs and fitness center locations in 26 states.

Date of Action: Nov. 22, 2016

Type of Action: Lawsuit settlement and entry of judgment and injunction

Name of Defendant: Han Nara Enterprises L.P.
Lubbock, Texas

Employer name: Environmental Painting Alternatives Inc.     

Investigation site: 1130 S. Rio Grande Ave.
Orlando, Florida 32805        

WILKES BARRE, Pa. – As retailers, consumers and workers head into the hectic holiday season, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is launching an enforcement initiative focused on protecting people employed in the retail industry in the greater Wilkes Barre area.

LANSDOWNE, Pa. – An administrative law judge recently affirmed nine cited federal safety and health violations and assessed $344,960 in fines against Lansdowne masonry contractor, J.C. Stucco and Stone. This follows a March 2016, hearing  regarding six willful and three repeat citations issued after two 2014 inspections by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Employer name: Hua Da Construction
917 Arch St.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Inspection site: 934 Arch St.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Citations issued: On Nov. 9, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for one repeat and one serious safety violations.

In the week ending November 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 251,000, an increase of 18,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 2,000 from 235,000 to 233,000. The 4-week moving average was 251,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 500 from 253,500 to 253,000.

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

Employer name: Crystal Window & Door Systems PA LLC

Inspection site: 204 Franklin Valley Road
Dalton, Pennsylvania

Citations issued: On Nov. 14, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for eight serious and one other-than-serious safety violations.

SEVEN HILLS, Ohio – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Cleveland office has opened an investigation after learning a 28-year-old employee of W.F. Hann & Sons was injured while installing sewer lines in an 8-foot trench in Seven Hills on Nov. 19, 2016.

Date of Action: Nov. 15, 2016

Type of Action: Consent judgment

Name of Defendants: Puerto Rico Police Department
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

NEW YORK – Sixty-three workers employed on the federally funded reconstruction of Chambers Street between Broadway and West St. in Lower Manhattan will receive a total of $1,190,861 in back wages following an investigation and litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, in keeping with a consent order  approved by the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges.

Who:   U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration

What: MSHA today completed its bi-annual update of its “Data at a Glance,” which shows an all-time low in the number of deaths caused by mine-related injuries for Fiscal Year 2016, and that fatality and injury rates for this period represent the lowest rates ever recorded. It also shows that Calendar Year 2015 was the safest in U.S. mining history.

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, Ohio – OSHA cited an Ohio company after a 33-year-old employee was crushed to death in June 2016 as he was digging soil out of the 12-foot trench in Washington Township, when the trench walls around him collapsed – burying him in thousands of pounds of dirt. Rescue workers recovered his body a few hours later.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration today issued a final rule updating its general industry Walking-Working Surfaces standards specific to slip, trip, and fall hazards.