April 23, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Trailer parts manufacturer exposed workers to multiple hazards [04/23/2015]

Employer name: Mid-America Steel Products Inc., doing business as American Sports Medical Industries

Site: Corning, Arkansas

Date inspection initiated: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration began its December 2014 inspection from a complaint alleging unguarded machinery and amputation hazards.

April 23, 2015

WHD News Release: Investigation in Utah and Arizona secures wages and benefits for more than 1,000 construction workers who were wrongly classified [04/23/2015]

WASHINGTON — A nearly five-year federal investigation of illegal business practices by 16 defendants in Utah and Arizona has yielded $700,000 in back wages, damages, penalties and other guarantees for more than 1,000 construction industry workers in the Southwest, the U.S. Department of Labor announced today.

April 23, 2015

OSHA News Release: Ringling Bros. to enhance safety for all aerial acts after settlement agreement [04/23/2015]

9 employees injured in May 2014 fall in Providence, Rhode Island

BOSTON — Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, will implement ongoing safety enhancements in aerial acts to protect employees against injuries like those sustained by its aerialists during a May 4, 2014, performance in Providence, Rhode Island. Feld Entertainment Inc., headquartered in Palmetto, Florida, owns the circus.

April 23, 2015

MSHA News Release: Coal mine dust samples indicate compliance with rule is highly achievable [04/23/2015]

ARLINGTON, Va. — Eight months after implementation of the final rule to prevent black lung disease by lowering miners' exposure to harmful coal dust, sampling by mine operators and Mine Safety and Health Administration inspectors indicates that compliance with the rule's tougher requirements is highly achievable.

April 22, 2015

US Labor Department sues Jessup, Maryland-based contractor to recover nearly $19,000 to 401(k) plan

Date of Action: April 16, 2015

Name(s) of Defendants: Brian Hicks, Trojan Horse LTD; Capitol Expressways Inc.; Glen Burnie Hauling Inc.; BDH Logistics LLC; and Trojan Horse LTD 401(k) plan.

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:

April 22, 2015

OSHA News Release: Tower workers' deaths could have been prevented with personal safety gear [04/22/2015]

OXFORD, Ohio — Florjan Nilaj and Gazmend Vukaj left their Michigan homes and traveled 260 miles south to Oxford for a commercial painting job never thinking that Oct. 24, 2014, might be the last day of their lives.

The two men, 25-year-old Nilaj and 40-year-old Vukaj, were seven stories above ground on an electric two-point scaffold. They were painting a 123-foot-tall water tower when the scaffold's hoist failed, and a nylon suspension rope broke. As the scaffold collapsed, the two men fell to their deaths.

April 22, 2015

OSHA News Release: Worker suffers broken wrist and lacerations while performing machine maintenance work at Atlanta's American Air Filter Co. [04/22/2015]

ATLANTA — A 56-year-old woman suffered a broken left wrist and severe lacerations after coming into contact with moving parts of a high-volume Lebanon machine, a machine used to assemble air filters, at American Air Filter Co. Inc. in Atlanta.

April 22, 2015

ETA News Release: $12M in Job ChalleNGe grants fund job training, work experience and a second chance for teenagers with juvenile court records [04/22/2015]

WASHINGTON — For many of our nation's youth, job opportunities are elusive, despite a much healthier national economy. Those with juvenile criminal records often find the barriers between education and career success daunting. Without a good job, these young people likely face a return to prison or a life in poverty.

April 21, 2015

WHD News Release: US Labor Department recovers more than $1.4M in back wages, damages for 300 employees of Long Island City plumbing and heating contractors [04/21/2015]

NEW YORK — The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a settlement by consent judgment that provides for the recovery of $1.42 million in back wages and liquidated damages for more than 300 current and former employees of four Long Island City plumbing and heating contractors. The related businesses are Danica Group LLC; Copper Plumbing & Heating LLC; Copper II Plumbing & Heating LLC; Copper III Plumbing & Heating LLC, and the owners are Thomas Andreadakis, Leonidas Andreadakis and Helen Andreadakis.

April 21, 2015

OSHA News Release: Dollar Tree Store endangers workers again in Texas [04/21/2015]

HOUSTON — Piled boxes at dangerous heights and blocked exit routes were two of the hazards found at the Houston location of the national discount retailer Dollar Tree Stores Inc. The hazards, both of which led to repeated citations, were found during an investigation by U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors. OSHA proposed $116,200 in penalties for two repeated and four serious violations at the West Gray Street store.

April 21, 2015

OSHA News Release: Metal siding manufacturer's workers still at risk of serious cuts, lacerations and amputations by machines at Elk Grove Village, Illinois, plant [04/21/2015]

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill. — For the third time in three years, an Elk Grove Village maker of metal home siding products ignored safety rules for machines. By doing so, the company put workers at risk of cuts, lacerations and amputations.

Acting on a complaint, U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors identified one repeated and five serious safety violations at Rollex Corp.'s metal siding manufacturing plant in October 2014. The company faces $103,000 in proposed penalties.

April 21, 2015

OWCP News Release: US Department of Labor brings traveling resource center to Newport News to inform current and former nuclear weapons workers about benefits [04/21/2015]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's traveling resource center will visit Newport News, Virginia, on April 28, to inform nuclear weapons workers about benefits available to them under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act.

April 20, 2015

US Labor Department obtains consent judgment restoring more than $257,000 to the shared savings plan of Sterling, Va., software development company

Date of Action: April 17, 2015

Type of Action: Complaint and Consent Judgment

Name(s) of Defendant(s): Robert W. Lewis, Kristie L. McDonald, Enterworks Inc. and Enterworks Inc. Shared Savings Plan

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:

April 20, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Follow up OSHA inspections identify new and recurring hazards for employees at New Hampshire sign manufacturer [04/20/2015]

Employer name: MFB Holdings LLC, doing business as M.F. Blouin, a manufacturer of acrylic and wooden sign holders and displays

Inspection site: 710 Main St. Rollinsford, New Hampshire 03869

April 20, 2015

OSHA News Release: Ocean Springs, Mississippi, contractor willfully ignores fall protection standards that lead to worker's death [04/20/2015]

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. — Gerald Moran had completed numerous framing jobs like the one at a new Government Street residence in Ocean Springs. Unlike past jobs, this one claimed his life. On Nov. 3, 2014, Moran and two workers installed balcony ceiling planks when Moran lost his balance and fell more than 20 feet. He sustained fatal injuries and died eight days later.

April 17, 2015

OSHA News Release: Worker electrocuted because his employer, Duke Energy Florida Inc., did not ensure safety procedures were followed [04/17/2015]

REDDICK, Fla. — Electrician's apprentice and lifelong Oxford resident Christopher Lee Dasher was testing and repairing electrical transformers at a substation in Reddick when he was electrocuted by more than 10,000 volts. Dasher, a 36-year-old husband and Duke Energy Florida Inc. worker, was a person who lived to make others happy.

April 16, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Allied Painting Inc. exposes employees to lead and fall hazards at Braga Bridge worksite in Fall River, Massachusetts [04/16/2015]

New Jersey-based painting contractor faces more than $41K in OSHA fines

Employer name: Allied Painting Inc., a painting contractor based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Inspection site: Charles M. Braga Jr. Memorial Bridge, Fall River, Massachusetts 02720

April 16, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Johnson Controls Battery Group again fails to monitor workers for lead exposure, faces OSHA penalties of $61K [04/16/2015]

Employer name: Johnson Controls Battery Group Inc.

Investigation site: 10300 Industrial St., Holland, Ohio

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: On Nov. 25, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated a follow-up inspection at Johnson Controls Battery Group. The wet and dry battery manufacturer was previously inspected by OSHA in April 2012.

April 16, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Metal fabricator cited for exposing workers to amputation hazards [04/16/2015]

Employer name: M&M Manufacturing Co. LLC

Site: Houston, Texas

Date initiated: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated the March 2015 inspection after receiving a report of an amputation at the facility under the new OSHA recordkeeping and reporting requirements that became effective January 1, 2015.

April 16, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Metal Shredders cited for willful, serious safety violations in electrocution death of welder in Miamisburg, Ohio [04/16/2015]

Parent company Cohen Brothers also cited for 3 serious electrical safety violations

Employer name: Cohen Brothers Inc., Middletown, Ohio; Metal Shredders Inc., Miamisburg, Ohio

Inspection site: Metal Shredders Inc., a subsidiary of Cohen Brothers, 5101 Farmersville-West Carrollton Road, Miamisburg, Ohio