OSHA proposes nearly $80K in fines

Employer name: Tallahatchie Lumber and Mat Co. Inc.

Inspection findings: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued the employer one willful, 22 serious and four other-than-serious safety citations. The agency initiated the investigation as part of its National Emphasis Program on Amputations.

MP Global Products faces $244K in penalties, placed in severe violator program

State: Arkansas

Type of Award: National Dislocated Worker Grant

Initial Amount Released: $740,000

Total Award Amount Approved: $2.2 million

Funding Awarded to: Arkansas Department of Workforce Services

Number of Workers Served: Approximately 111

Rule would require proximity detection devices on coal-haulage equipment underground

ARLINGTON, Va. — Haulage machinery in underground coal mines — such as shuttle cars, ram cars and scoops — would have to be equipped with technology that prevents miners from becoming struck, pinned or crushed, as per a proposed rule from the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Territory: Northern Mariana Islands

Type of Award: National Dislocated Worker Grant

Initial Amount Released: $500,000

Total Award Amount Approved: $6 million

Funding Awarded to: Northern Mariana Islands Workforce Investment Agency

Number of Workers Served: Approximately 300

Employer: DDS Conveyor, Inc.

Site: 3265 West Post Road, Las Vegas, Nevada 89118

NEW YORK — For the second time in two years, a U.S. and international home decor manufacturer and distributor has shown that it lags in employee safety.

A U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspection of New York-based Idea Nuova's 302 Fifth Ave. showroom found aisles clogged with merchandise, including beanbag chairs, and an emergency exit blocked by disco balls, desks and lamps, conditions that could prevent a swift workplace exit in an emergency.

Participants: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Austin Area Office and the Consulate General of Mexico in Austin. Signing the agreement were R. Casey Perkins and Carlos Gonzales Gutierrez.

Participants: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's El Paso Area Office and the Consulate General of Mexico in El Paso.

LANCASTER, Ohio – Two years after agreeing to reduce workers' exposure to lead and cadmium, a Lancaster battery recycling facility continues to expose workers to dangerously high airborne concentrations of the metals – a leading cause of workplace illness – which can cause long-term damage to the central nervous, urinary, blood and reproductive systems.

US Department of Labor finds General Atomics violated federal wage requirement

SAN DIEGO — Federal law requires government contractors to pay their workers the prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits in their geographic area. On the books for half a century, the law ensures that companies do not make their services less costly at the expense of their workers, or drive down wages for other area workers.

OSHA also finds combustible dust hazards that could have caused an explosion

Stephen Lessard of Maine ordered to correct hazards, pay $405K in penalties

Date of action: Aug. 24, 2015

Type of action: Judgment

Name of defendant: Lessard Roofing and Siding Inc., Lessard Brothers Construction Inc., and their successors and/or alter egos

OSHA cited Retriev Technologies for same hazards in 2012

State: Texas

Type of Award: National Dislocated Worker Grant

Initial Amount Released: $718,356

Total Award Amount Approved: $2,155,068

Funding Awarded to: Texas Workforce Commission

Number of Workers Served: Approximately 120

CHICAGO – The U.S. Department of Labor is suing an Illinois home health care provider alleging that the company, the profit-sharing plan and two of its trustees improperly authorized distributions of $1,601,908 in profit-sharing plan assets, in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

The department’s suit names Palos Hills-based Alliance Home Healthcare Inc.; the Alliance Home Healthcare Inc. Profit Sharing Plan; and company owners and plan trustees, Reginaldo Sulit and Dalisay Sulit.

Employer: Z-Best Medical Transportation, LLC

Site: 1505 N. Alma School Rd., Chandler, Arizona 85224

Employer name: H & S Manufacturing Co. Inc., Marshfield, Wisconsin

Citations issued: Aug. 18, 2015

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Madison Area Office issued 13 safety and health violations to the farm machinery and equipment manufacturer. The violations include:

WASHINGTON — As director of the Cement Masons Southern California Trust Funds' audit and collections department, Cheryle Robbins spoke up when she believed a trustee was breaking federal law protecting CMSCTF's retirement and benefit plans. Robbins later cooperated with federal investigators, and the board of trustees responded by placing Robbins on administrative leave. When the company outsourced her department to a third-party administrator, Robbins was the only employee not retained by the new employer.