FAIRFIELD, Ala. — Like most of us, Leo Bridges and Edward Bryant left for work one day in September 2014, probably thinking about some rest and relaxation when the shift ended. Like many, they figured their managers and employer would ensure they were safe at work. Bridges and Bryant were wrong; they were caught in a fiery explosion in the Flux Building, which U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors said occurred because U.S. Steel Corp. put workers at risk, so as not to slow production at its Fairfield facility.

WASHINGTON — Returning home from prison can be hard, particularly without the benefits of a stable job. Without employment, the likelihood of recidivism rises. To provide the support, training and assistance needed to find and keep a good job, the U.S. Labor Department today announced a $27 million Training to Work — Adult Reentry grant program — to help thousands of soon-to-be-released inmates become productive citizens.

CHICAGO — Left unguarded, dangerous machines with moving parts cause hundreds of thousands of workers to suffer finger, hand or foot amputations and other serious injuries each year in the United States. Despite these dangers, one Chicago-based manufacturer has repeatedly ignored the risks and has been found in violation of safety and health standards four times in the last five years.

BOWDON, Ga. — Dollar General Corp. has been cited again by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, this time for four repeated safety violations found in a December 2014 inspection of the Bowdon store at 203 Wedowee St. OSHA initiated the inspection after receiving a complaint and has proposed penalties of $83,050.

Employer name: K.W. McAvoy & Son Inc.

Inspection site: 3500 Greensboro Road, Washington, Georgia 30673

Date investigation initiated: OSHA initiated the investigation on Nov. 5, 2014, after the agency received a complaint related to safety and health hazards at the facility.

DU QUOIN, Ill. — A truck driver, who was fired the morning after he filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration alleging unsafe working conditions, will receive $33,000 under terms of a settlement agreement. The agreement resolves a lawsuit brought against employers Perry Ridge Landfill Inc., Panther City Hauling and their corporate officer, Joseph Mazza, for violating the whistleblower provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

Employer name: Pregis Corp., a manufacturer of foam, paper and plastic packaging materials

Inspection site: 300 Lower Warren St., Queensbury, New York 12804

Employer name: SER Construction Partners Ltd.

Site: Houston, Texas

Date initiated: OSHA's Houston North Area Office began the investigation in January under the National Emphasis Program on Trenching and Excavations.

Date of Action: March 19, 2015

Type of Action: Amended Consent Judgment and Order

Names of Defendant: Fletcher-Thompson, Inc. Savings Plan and Michael S. Marcinek, in their capacities as fiduciaries of the Fletcher-Thompson Inc. Savings Plan

State: Massachusetts

Type of Award: National Emergency Grant incremental funding

Incremental Award Released: $854,851

Total Award Amount Approved: $1,576,221

Funding Awarded to: Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development

Number of Workers to Be Served: About 300

WASHINGTON — The Bank of New York Mellon has agreed to repay $84 million to employee benefit plan customers who were victimized through the bank's "standing instruction" foreign exchange trading program. The agreement was reached as part of a larger settlement that resolves private lawsuits against the bank as well as suits brought by the U.S. Department of Justice and the New York State Attorney General.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration has announced a direct final rule that provides a two-month grace period for participant-directed individual account plans (e.g., 401(k) plans) to provide annual investment and plan-related information to participants.

ATLANTA — The Federal Highway Administration, the state of Georgia and local government organizations are partnering with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration to sponsor a one-hour Safety Stand-Down at construction sites in Georgia in conjunction with National Highway Work Zone Awareness Week from March 23-27.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez today issued the following statement regarding the release of the 2014 Employment Situation of Veterans report by the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics:

State: Washington

Type of Award: National Emergency Grant incremental funding

Incremental Award Released: $2,698,119

Total Award Amount Approved: $5,586,385

Funding Awarded to: Pacific Mountain Workforce Consortium

Number of Airmen and Soldiers to Be Served: About 900

Employer name: Mt. Vernon Barge Services, Jeffersonville, Indiana

Investigation site: 5804 Utica Pike, Jeffersonville, Indiana

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. — For the third time since 2011, the Union Pacific Railroad has violated the Federal Railroad Safety Act at its yard in North Platte by disciplining employees who reported workplace injuries and sought medical attention, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found. Since 2001, the company has faced more than 200 whistleblower complaints nationwide.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. — For the third time since 2011, the Union Pacific Railroad has violated the Federal Railroad Safety Act at its yard in North Platte by disciplining employees who reported workplace injuries and sought medical attention, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found. Since 2001, the company has faced more than 200 whistleblower complaints nationwide.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — World Kitchen LLC makes dinnerware for well-known brand names, such as Corelle and CorningWare. Less well-known is that workers at the company's Corning manufacturing plant have been exposed to a variety of hazards that put their health and safety at risk.

NEW YORK — It began as a routine safety inspection in August 2012 at the New York City Transit Authority's Linden Shop maintenance facility in Brooklyn. It ended with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration finding that the transit authority and one of its supervisors discriminated against an employee for exercising his safety rights under the National Transit Systems Security Act. As a result, OSHA has ordered the NYCTA and supervisor Mark Ruggerio to pay the employee $52,500 in damages and take other corrective action.