PROSSER, Neb. - As he cleared soybean debris a 41-year-old elevator superintendent suffocated when his lifeline tangled in an unguarded and rotating auger. A federal investigation into the worker's death found multiple violations of federal safety standards for grain handling at the Cooperative Producers Inc. Hayland facility in Prosser.

CONNEAUT, Ohio – For the fifth time since 2013, federal investigators have been called to an Ohio aluminum foundry to investigate the serious injury of a worker.

Employer name: TimkenSteel Corporation, 4511 Faircrest St., SW, Canton, Ohio

Citations issued: Sept. 7, 2016

SAN FRANCISCO – Oil and gas industry workers often work long hours to provide essential products for the nation’s economy. In return, these employees expect their employers to pay them fairly and fully, as the law requires. For 750 workers employed by one of the world’s largest industry operators, this was not the case.

Employer name: APDC Services Inc., 3059 Michigan Ave., Kissimmee, Florida 34744

Investigation sites:

In the week ending September 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 259,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 263,000. The 4-week moving average was 261,250, a decrease of 1,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 263,000.

VAN BUREN, Mo. – In an emergency, a blocked exit can be the difference between life and death for employees and customer alike. Yet, Dollar General – one of the nation’s largest discount retailers – continues to ignore federal workplace safety inspectors who have found repeated instances where the company allows stacked merchandise to block exit routes.

NEW ORLEANS – Two Gulf Coast staffing agencies have agreed to paid 353 workers nearly $516,000 in back wages after U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found they classified employees incorrectly as independent contractors and mislabeled wages as per-diem reimbursement for expenses never incurred.

PERRYSBURG, Ohio ‒ For the second time in five months, federal inspectors have cited an Indiana framing contractor for failing to protect workers from fall hazards on residential construction sites. Preventable falls account for nearly 40 percent of all deaths in the construction industry.

Employer name: Keystone Foods

Inspection site: 57 Melvin Clark Road, Bakerhill, Alabama 36027

Citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to Keystone Foods on Sept. 6, 2016, for 12 serious safety violations.

LANSING, Ill. – For a Joliet construction contractor in business more than 50 years, the dangers of working in an unprotected trench should be nothing new. Yet, the company’s history of allowing employees to work in unsafe trenches continues – this time to excavate utility lines 7-feet deep in June 2016 at a Torrence Avenue job site.

Employers’ name: Austin Constructors LLC and Muniz Concrete and Contracting Inc.

Worksite location: Colorado St., Austin, Texas 78701

Citations issued: Sept. 6, 2016

ATLANTA – As they recover from the impacts of Hermine, a hurricane that continued as a tropical storm, Florida’s emergency workers, employers and the public at-large should be aware of the hazards they may encounter and take necessary steps to stay safe, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration urges.

CEDARBURG, Wis. – As he hand-polished a 40-inch long metal cylinder, a 36-year-old lathe operator became entangled in the machine’s operating spindle and suffered injuries that led to his death two days later.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez issued the following statement about the August 2016 Employment Situation report released today:

Participants: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Corpus Christi Area Office and the Mexican Consulates in Brownsville and Laredo, Texas.

Employer name: AJ New Construction and Repair Inc.

Inspection site(s): 506 Heron Landing Road, St. Johns, Florida 32259
1684 W. State St., Jacksonville, Florida 32209

Citations issued: OSHA issued citations to the employer on Aug. 26, 2016.

Participants: U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Workers Defense Project

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Federal workplace safety and health inspectors have cited York Metal Toll Processing Inc. for exposing employees to uncorrected electrical, crushing and respiratory hazards, as well as recurring amputation hazards.

Participants: U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division
Nebraska Department of Labor