NILES, Ohio. — A 49-year-old machine operator was fatally crushed while reaching into an extrusion press to remove unprocessed aluminum parts because his employer, BRT Extrusions Inc., failed to ensure the machine's power was fully off so that it would not turn on during maintenance, a procedure known as lockout/tagout. An investigation into the Aug. 6, 2014, incident by the U.S.

MADISON, Ohio — Every year, thousands of people are electrocuted at work by current from live wires and energized parts. Electrical current often enters through the skin, muscles or hair and then spikes through the nervous system, burning tissue in patches. One of those who suffered this kind of injury was a 24-year-old temporary maintenance employee at International Paper Co. in Madison. Burns hospitalized him and left him unable to work for more than four months.

ST. LOUIS — Garda Armored Car failed to train its employees to use portable fire extinguishers, despite being cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for the same violation in March 2013. Responding to a complaint, OSHA inspected the armored car company on Oct. 20, 2014, and found that the business had not trained employees as instructed.

BLUE ISLAND, Ill. — Without proper protections, employees who work with lead can bring this toxic metal home on their clothes, shoes, skin, hair and hands with the potential to poison children and other family members. "Take-home lead" as it's called is particularly dangerous for pregnant women and preschoolers.

FRANKLIN, Ohio — Mere months after two employees were injured by dangerous machines, Burrows Paper Corp. again put workers at risk. Acting on a complaint, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found workers unjamming and servicing machines without proper safeguards during an Aug. 25, 2014, inspection. This is the fourth time in the past year that Burrows has been cited for hazards at its Franklin food box manufacturing facility.

DALLAS — The dangers of worker exposure to hexavalent chromium, a known carcinogen that can cause serious long-term health issues, including lung cancer and kidney failure, should have come as no surprise to the Lane Plating Works Inc. owner. Air-monitoring tests told him that workers were being overexposed to the dangerous toxin, but he failed to correct the hazard. As a result, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited the Dallas-based chrome plating shop for two willful violations and 19 serious violations.

Employer name: H & W Contracting, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Investigation site: Columbia and East Willow Streets, Harrisburg, South Dakota

On July 28, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Bismarck Area Office initiated an inspection under the National Emphasis Program on Trenching after witnessing workers exposed to trenching hazards.

Employer name: Flink Co., 502 N. Vermillion St., Streator, Illinois

Inspection site: 150 Benchmark Drive, Streator, Illinois

On July 23, 2014, an inspection was initiated by the North Aurora Area Office of the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration after receiving a complaint.

State: Wisconsin

Type of Award: National Emergency Grant incremental funding

Employers Experiencing Layoffs: American TV; C&D Technologies Inc.; Caterpillar Global Mining LLC; Deaconess Home Health Inc.; FIS; Joy Global Inc.; Kindred Transitional Care and Rehabilitation; Kohl's Department Stores Inc.; Rock-Tenn Co.; the Social Development Commission; The Oilgear Co.; Tramont Corp.

Incremental Award Released: $659,640

Who: Mine Safety and Health Administration

What: Public Hearing on Proposed Rule for Criteria and Procedures for Assessment of Civil Penalties

When: Thursday, Feb. 5 at 9 a.m. CST

Where: Sheraton Birmingham Hotel 2101 Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard North Birmingham, Alabama 35203 205-324-5000

Who: Mine Safety and Health Administration

What: Public Hearing on Proposed Rule for Criteria and Procedures for Assessment of Civil Penalties

When: Thursday, Feb. 5 at 9 a.m. CST

Where: Sheraton Birmingham Hotel 2101 Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard North Birmingham, Alabama 35203 205-324-5000

State: Wisconsin

Type of Award: National Emergency Grant incremental funding

Employers Experiencing Layoffs: American TV; C&D Technologies Inc.; Caterpillar Global Mining LLC; Deaconess Home Health Inc.; FIS; Joy Global Inc.; Kindred Transitional Care and Rehabilitation; Kohl's Department Stores Inc.; Rock-Tenn Co.; the Social Development Commission; The Oilgear Co.; Tramont Corp.

Incremental Award Released: $659,640

WASHINGTON — More than 9 million people are released from more than 3,000 county jails nationwide each year, many with few job skills and little prospect for employment. Without a strong support system or a steady job, many former inmates commit new crimes and end up back in jail — a cycle of incarceration that persists across the country. The U.S.

Date of Action: Dec. 23, 2014

Type of Action: Complaint

Names of Defendants: Michael Omstead Smith; Aware Environmental Inc.; and the Aware Environmental Inc. 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan and Trust

LAS VEGAS — The U.S. District Court in Nevada has ordered a Las Vegas-based telemarketing company to pay $280,000 in minimum wage and overtime back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to 398 employees for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The consent judgment resolves a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor against Intelliconnect Communications LLC, owners Brenda Portela and Stephanie Meehan, and S&M Management Services Inc., a successor employer.

PORTLAND, Ore. — A federal court has ordered local developer David Emami and three of his affiliated companies to pay 33 Portland-area employees $512,290 in unpaid wages and liquidated damages. The U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon agreed with a U.S. Department of Labor investigation that found that Emami and companies Oak Grove Cinemas Inc., Barrington Management LLC and Barrington Venture LLC willfully violated the overtime and record-keeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Employer name: Northrop Grumman Corp.

Inspection site: Lake Charles, La.

Date inspection initiated and what prompted the inspection: The inspection began August 2014 as the result of a complaint, but was expanded to also address the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's National Emphasis Program for Hexavalent Chromium.

ARCADIA, Wis. — In a three-and-a-half year period, 4,500 employees at Ashley Furniture Industries Inc., in Arcadia, experienced more than 1,000 work-related injuries. One worker became another terrible statistic when he lost three fingers in July 2014 while operating a dangerous woodworking machine without required safety mechanisms in place. Of the injuries recorded, more than 100 were caused by similar machinery.