2015 Theme Announced for Octobers National Disability Employment Awareness Month

WASHINGTON — Planning for National Disability Employment Awareness Month 2015 is underway, and the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy today announced the official theme for the October observance: "My Disability Is One Part of Who I Am."

Employer name: Pacemaker Steel & Piping Co. Inc., provider of steel, aluminum and other metals and pipe to the construction trade.

Inspection site: 501 Main St. Utica, New York 13501

Employer name: Sabel Steel Service Inc.

Inspection site: 2811 Day Street, Montgomery, Alabama 36103

Date inspection initiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated the inspection on Nov. 4, 2014, as part of the agency's Regional Emphasis Program on Lead.

LILBURN, Ga. — Employers who ignore safety in search of profit put their workers at risk. This idea was apparent to safety and health inspectors as they drove by a Bojangles' restaurant under construction in Lilburn in October 2014.

State: Colorado

Type of Award: National Emergency Grant incremental funding

Incremental Award Released: $637,464

Total Award Amount Approved: $4,609,937

Funding Awarded to: Colorado Department of Labor and Employment

Number of Workers to Be Served: About 230

OSHA partners with thousands of businesses to save lives by preventing falls in construction

WASHINGTON Today is a day like any other. The sun rose. People went to work to build our homes, our businesses and our bridges. By day's end, not all of them will go home. Each year, hundreds of workers die and thousands more suffer serious injuries because they fell and lacked the right safety equipment or knowledge to prevent it. For constructions workers, falls are the leading cause of death.

Date of Action: May 1, 2015

Type of Action: Complaint

Names of Defendants: Charles W. Buller; Park Place Wood Products Inc.; and the Park Place Woods Products Inc. Retirement Savings Plan

KNOB NOSTER, Mo. — A 30-year-old roofer's life was cut tragically short in November 2014 after he suffered severe head trauma in a fall. A father of two young boys, the man was found unresponsive below a 32-foot extension ladder he was using to renovate a roof at a two-story building at Missouri's Whiteman Air Force Base.

Employer name: Suburban Plastics Co.

Inspection site: 1000 Enterprise Drive, Grenada, Mississippi 38901

Date of inspection: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated a follow-up inspection on Jan. 6, 2015.

BUFFALO, New York — An electric technician at the Republic Steel Corp. steel manufacturing plant in Blasdell was removing wiring from a fan motor in an overhead crane on October 16, 2014, when an ungrounded electrical conductor touched a grounded surface causing an arc flash. The electric technician sustained third degree burns on her hand and first degree burns on her face.

Date of Action: May 1, 2015

Type of Action: Complaint

Names of Defendants: Charles W. Buller; Park Place Wood Products Inc.; and the Park Place Woods Products Inc. Retirement Savings Plan

Construction protections now match those in manufacturing and general industry

WASHINGTON – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration today issued a final rule to increase protections for construction workers in confined spaces.

Date of Action: April 17, 2015

Name(s) of Defendants: Steven F. Sonstein,  Cobalt Staffing Inc. and Cobalt Staffing Inc. 401(k) Plan

The U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration today announced the award of a $41 million, five-year contract to operate the Wind River Job Corps center in Fremont, Wyo. Wind River will be the newest facility in the Job Corps program, which serves disadvantaged young people. The center will feature a state-of-the-art energy technology program, the first of its kind in the nation. The first students are expected to arrive at Wind River Job Corps by the end of 2015.

Contract Amount: $41,408,859

NEW YORK — A Poughkeepsie-based maker and distributor of baby apparel and accessories denied 49 workers overtime pay and then attempted to thwart federal investigators by hiding workers and threatening them if they spoke to U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division agents.

Employer name: Vista Window Company LLC.

Investigation site: 1701 Henn Parkway, Warren, Ohio

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: On Oct. 22, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Cleveland office initiated an inspection at Vista Window Company LLC after receiving a complaint alleging unsafe working conditions. This was the first OSHA inspection at the Warren-based company which manufactures vinyl windows.

Employer name: J&M Energy Services

Inspection Site: Odessa, Texas

Date inspection initiated and what prompted the inspection: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration began the investigation in January, as part of the agency's new reporting requirements for in-patient hospitalization of an employee.

Employer name: Cellu Tissue Neenah operating as Clearwater Paper Neenah

Investigation site: 249 North Lake Street, Neenah, Wisconsin

Employer name: Tip Top Roofing & Construction 2030 Coltonville Road, Sycamore, Illinois

Investigation site: 161 John Street, DeKalb, Illinois

WELLINGTON, Ohio — The life of a 23-year-old man working at a metal stamping company was changed forever when three fingers on his right hand were crushed in a power press in January 2015.