PHILADELPHIA – An alarming series of tragic – and preventable – incidents in the greater Philadelphia area is prompting the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration to call on the region’s construction companies to ensure that their employees have and use proper equipment when required to protect them from work-related falls.

QUEENSBURY, N.Y. – Federal workplace safety and health inspectors have cited a Queensbury manufacturer for exposing employees to uncorrected explosion hazards, as well as recurring fire and fall hazards.

BOSTON – Employees at United Plastics manufacturing plants in Leominster, Massachusetts, and Sardis, Mississippi, will receive a total of $1,433,618 in back wages and liquidated damages as part of a consent judgment and order obtained in federal court by the U.S. Department of Labor.

BIGLERVILLE, Pa. – For more than two months, a worker at a Pennsylvania pallet company repeatedly told her employer about health concerns related to mold exposure at a Biglerville plant. Despite confirming that the mold existed, IFCO Services N.A. Inc. did not remove the fungus and instead fired the woman less than three weeks after she complained again about her health concerns.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation are seeking public comments on proposed revisions to modernize and improve the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report filed by private-sector employee benefit plans.

Employers names: Exterran Energy Solutions LP
South Texas Specialty Welders LLC

Worksite location: 2707 FM 949, Alleyton, Texas 78935

Citations issued: July 8, 2016

Employer name: Nidi Tec Inc.

Worksite: 591 East 56th Ave., Denver, Colorado 80216

Citations issued: July 6, 2016

CINCINNATI, Ohio – Pipefitters and bricklayers constructing the Viking Village Shared Facility Pool in Sharonville under a federal contract will recover a total of $147,000 in back wages and benefits following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

BOSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division will offer a comprehensive compliance seminar for employers, representatives of community rehabilitation programs, family members and guardians of workers with disabilities and other stakeholders on rules governing the payment of workers with disabilities under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

WASHINGTON – A report released today under the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation by the U.S. Department of Labor responds to a submission filed by U.S. and Mexican labor unions and worker advocacy groups that alleges that the Mexican government has failed to meet its obligations under the NAALC with respect to a large chain of Mexican retail stores.

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

Employer: WadeCo Specialties Inc., an oilfield services chemical provider

Site: 8115 West Industrial Avenue, Midland, Texas 79706

Type of Action: Fair Labor Standards Act consent judgment

Name of Defendants: Mike’s Refinishing Corporation
Mike’s Decorating and Painting Inc.
Michael Nastepniak

Employer name: Amerway Inc., an industrial soldering and metal brazing manufacturer

Inspection site: 3701 Beale Ave., Altoona, Pennsylvania

Employer: Wally’s American Pub and Grille, LLC, operating two restaurants in Arizona

Locations: 5029 North 44 Street, Phoenix
7704 East Double Tree Rach, Scottsdale

Date of Action: July 7, 2016

Type of Action: Lawsuit

Name of Defendant: Five Star Automatic Fire Protection LLC

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration announced today that cement producer CEMEX de Puerto Rico has agreed to pay $291,722 in penalties, and implement enhanced safety measures at its three MSHA-regulated facilities in Puerto Rico.

Employer: Schamber Electric & Sons Inc., doing business as Schamber Electric Inc.

Location: 1674 Rail Road St., Corona, California

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $81 million in grants through the National Farmworker Jobs Program to provide additional employment, training and housing assistance to migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families. Recipients include 63 organizations in 49 states and Puerto Rico.

ALTAMONT, Ill. – Federal safety and health investigators found Altamont Ambulance Service Inc. failed to follow specific guidelines to protect emergency healthcare workers from exposure to bloodborne pathogens and other hazards while providing patient care.