Funds provide U.S. mine workers with safety and health training

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration has awarded $8,441,000 in grant funding to 47 states and the Navajo Nation to reduce mining accidents, injuries and illnesses by supporting safety and health training courses and other programs.

Date of Action: Sept. 29, 2015

Name(s) of Defendants: Encorium Group Inc.

Allegations: Based on an investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Secretary of Labor filed a complaint alleging the following:

Encorium Group Inc.’s predecessor, the Covalent Group, established a 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan in 1996 to provide a way for its employees to voluntarily save for their retirement years on a tax-free basis. The plan was funded by elective employee contributions and discretionary employer contributions.

CLARK, N.J. — What appeared to be a franchise opportunity for professional cleaners in New Jersey turned out to be an employer scheme to circumvent the law, leaving cleaning workers making less than federal minimum wage.

Employers' names: Corvac Composites LLC and Priority Personnel Inc. in San Marcos, Texas

Citations issued: Sept. 30, 2015

Investigation findings: Corvac Composites was cited for six serious violations for failing to:

Employers' names: Jose Miguel Charles, doing business as Pirul Trim Service, was the subcontractor and employer; and Blazer Building Inc. was the general contractor at an apartment construction site in New Braunfels, Texas.

Citations issued: Sept. 30, 2015

More than $305K in proposed fines for Prestige Industries Paterson, New Jersey, location

PATERSON, N.J. — One of the region's largest commercial laundry companies continues to expose its employees to the same workplace hazards that contributed to the 2011 death of a 24-year-old worker at a Prestige Industries LLC facility in Bay Shore, New York.

Date of action: Sept. 16, 2015

Type of action: Decision and Order

Name of defendant: Masonry Services Inc. dba MSI / North Eastern Precast LLC

Employer name: Maverick Arms Inc.

Location: Eagle Pass, Texas

Date citations issued: Sept. 30, 2015

HARTFORD, Conn. — AmeriGas Propane LP employees at the Southington terminal regularly transfer flammable, liquefied petroleum gas from railcars into 30,000- and 60,000-gallon storage tanks. Once filled, tanker trucks transport the gas elsewhere.

Employer name: Stampede Meat Inc., Bridgeview, Illinois Reliable Staffing Services operating as Flexible Staffing Services, Lake in the Hills, Illinois Accurate Personnel of Chicago

Citations issued: Sept. 22, 2015.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration has awarded $8,441,000 in grant funding to 47 states and the Navajo Nation to reduce mining accidents, injuries and illnesses by supporting safety and health training courses and other programs.

US Labor Secretary: Paid leave for the good of our families, strength of our economy'

WASHINGTON – Continuing its efforts to support working families and encourage policies that reflect the realities of the 21st Century workforce, the U.S. Department of Labor's Women's Bureau today awarded $1.55 million in grants to research and analyze how paid leave programs can be developed and implemented across the country.

Chicken processor racks up more than $1.4M in OSHA penalties in 2015

CANTON, Ohio – A leading supplier of fast food and supermarket chicken is facing more than $1.4 million in fines this year for worker safety and health violations, including several that led a teenaged worker to suffer the amputation of his lower leg.

Funding to focus on resources for mine emergency preparedness, accident prevention

Type of Action: Default Judgment

Names of Defendant: David Stratton, IDS Sales & Engineering, Inc., IDS Sales & Engineering, Inc. Retirement Savings Plan

WASHINGTON — Supporting the President's goal to eliminate homelessness among U.S. military veterans, the U.S. Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service today announced the award of $1.5 million in grants to help once incarcerated veterans considered "at risk" of becoming homeless. In all, seven grants will serve more than 650 formerly incarcerated veterans in six states.

WASHINGTON — Continuing its efforts to support working families and encourage policies that reflect the realities of the 21st Century workforce, the U.S. Department of Labor's Women's Bureau today awarded $1.55 million in grants to research and analyze how paid leave programs can be developed and implemented across the country.

Participants: U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Agreement description: On Sept. 24, OWCP and NIOSH entered into a formal memorandum of understanding establishing a quality assurance program for X-rays used to evaluate whether claimants are entitled to black lung benefits based on the presence of complicated pneumoconiosis.

CANTON, Ohio — A leading supplier of fast food and supermarket chicken is facing more than $1.4 million in fines this year for worker safety and health violations, including several that led a teenaged worker to suffer the amputation of his lower leg.