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.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry, with hundreds of workers dying each year and thousands more facing catastrophic, debilitating injuries. Yet, lack of proper fall protection remains the most frequently cited violation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Employer name: Bekaert Corp.

Inspection site: Van Buren, Arkansas

Date inspection was initiated and what prompted the inspection: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration opened the inspection in December 2014 based on a complaint alleging unguarded machinery and lead exposures.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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

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.

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.