ROSE HILL, Kan. ‒ Safety guards may have prevented a metal bar from striking and killing a 24-year-old lathe operator at a Rose Hill industrial cleaning equipment manufacturer, federal investigators found.

SAVANNAH, Ga. – A 17-year-old worker, who died when a car fell off a hydraulic lift and crushed him in November 2015,  was operating hazardous equipment in violation of federal law at a Savannah motor vehicle shipping facility, the U.S. Department of Labor has determined.

Employer name: Harcros Chemicals Inc.,
Kansas City, Kansas

Citations issued: April 19, 2016

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

MINNEAPOLIS – The U.S.

LADYSMITH, Wis. ‒ A machine operator who suffered fatal injuries as he serviced a high-speed conveyor belt in a Ladysmith paper mill in October 2015 might still be alive if his employer had ensured that equipment was powered down and locked out before the 46-year-old man entered the hazardous area.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs today issued a final rule to strengthen safeguards for the health of coal workers.

Employer name: General Electric, Circleville Lamp Plant, Circleville, Ohio

Citations issued: April 20, 2016

Employer name: Sanoh America Inc., 1849 Industrial Dr., Findlay, Ohio                  

Citations issued: April 18, 2016

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

PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is conducting a building construction survey in New York’s Jefferson, Madison, Onondaga and Oswego counties to collect data on wages paid to workers on all active building construction projects in those counties between Jan. 1, 2015 and Dec. 31, 2015, New Hampshire between April 1, 2014, and March 31, 2015. This survey is not limited to federally funded construction projects.

Since the beginning of his Administration, President Obama has focused on creating an economy that works for every American. Under President Obama, our economy has added 14.4 million jobs over 73 straight months, the longest streak of job creation on record. The jobs available today, and the jobs of the future, are higher-skill jobs that require more education and advanced skills.

Employer name: Bobby Campbell Roofing Inc.

Inspection site: 558 Pullman Circle, St. Augustine, Florida 32084

Citations issued: Citations were issued to the employer on April 16.

Employer’s names: Stephens Plumbing Inc.

Inspection site: 2050 Eastern Blvd., Montgomery, Alabama 36117

In the week ending April 16, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 247,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 253,000. This is the lowest level for initial claims since November 24, 1973 when it was 233,000. The 4-week moving average was 260,500, a decrease of 4,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 265,000.

Date of Action: April 19, 2016

Type of Actions: Employee Retirement Income Security Act Lawsuit

Defendants: The Leiter Group Attorneys and Counselors Professional Corporation and Thomas E. Leiter

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Just six months after citing a global equipment provider to the biopharma industry for exposing workers to hazardous levels of hexavalent chromium and potentially deafening noise as they welded and grinded stainless steel and other alloy steels, federal investigators found the company has failed to take steps to protect its workers at its Springfield facility.

State: Arkansas

Type of Award: National Dislocated Worker Grant

Initial Amount Approved: $2,200,000

Incremental Amount Awarded: $1,332,62

Funding Awarded to: Arkansas Department of Workforce Services

Number of Workers Served: Approximately 111

Date of Action:  April 18, 2015

Type of Action: Consent Judgment and Order  

Names of Defendants:  Brunk Industries Inc., James Brunk, and the Contractors and Employees 401(k) Plan

Employer: St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center

Sites: 390 E. Bannock, Boise, Idaho

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. ‒ A 42-year-old laborer leak testing joints inside a 54-inch round pipe suffered fatal blunt force injuries in October 2015, when an inflatable “bladder” ruptured at a Springfield waste-water treatment plant. Inspectors from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found his employer, Henderson Construction of Central Illinois Inc., failed to train him properly on the testing procedure.

BISMARCK, N.D. ‒ Two Bismarck companies have been cited by federal safety inspectors for failing to protect workers from fall hazards of up to 18 feet at a residential home construction site in the 4600 block of Greyhawk Lane in February.