COLUMBUS, Ohio — Workers at Georgia-Pacific Chemicals LLC were exposed to dangerous chemicals, such as formaldehyde and other potential health and safety hazards, because the company failed to implement proper chemical management procedures at its Columbus plant. An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration produced 11 serious violations with penalties totaling $60,500.

MOSS POINT, Miss. — Two temporary workers hired to cut and weld pipes at the Omega Protein plant in Moss Point on July 28, 2014, had no idea and had no training to know that the storage tank beneath them contained explosive methane and hydrogen sulfide gases. One of the two men found out later as he lay in a hospital with a fractured skull, internal injuries and broken bones. The second, a 25-year-old man named Jerry Taylor, died when the tank exploded.

Date of Action: January 23, 2015

Type of Action: Complaint

Names of Defendants: Northampton Motor Classics LLC and Andrew Feuerstein

State: Commonwealth of Kentucky

Type of Award: National Emergency Grant

Employers Experiencing Layoffs: Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (McCracken County), GE Aviation (Madisonville)

Total Award Amount Approved: $4,598,681

Initial Award Released: $2,170,658

Funding Awarded to: West Kentucky Workforce Investment Board

Number of Workers to Be Served: About 875

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez issued the following statement on the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics report released today on union membership in 2014:

"Today's report confirms what we've always known: that belonging to a union makes a powerful difference in people's lives, providing greater economic security and helping them punch their ticket to the middle class.

State: Commonwealth of Kentucky

Type of Award: National Emergency Grant

Employers Experiencing Layoffs: Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (McCracken County), GE Aviation (Madisonville)

Total Award Amount Approved: $4,598,681

Initial Award Released: $2,170,658

Funding Awarded to: West Kentucky Workforce Investment Board

Number of Workers to Be Served: About 875

Date of Action: January 8, 2015

Type of Action: Complaint and Consent Judgment and Order

Names of Defendants: Richard Curtis Herring.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — "Zimmer TMT is in the business of healthcare and should be aware of the potential health and safety hazards to which its employees could be exposed," said Kris Hoffman, director of OSHA's Parsippany Area Office. "Chlorine gas is poisonous and can cause death. Employers using highly hazardous chemicals absolutely must be prepared for emergencies, and this company clearly was not."

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A 22-year-old apprentice ironworker fell more than 30 feet to his death while standing on a 9-inch-wide steel girder on a building under construction in Kansas City. On the job for just a few weeks, the worker was not provided fall protection by his employer, Fastrack Erectors Inc., a subcontractor on the construction job. After an investigation into the July 25, 2014, fatality, the U.S.

BEAR, Del. — A chance to get on-the-job training in construction turned tragic when a Delaware high school student suffered a severe head injury after a one-story fall off an unguarded balcony at a local construction site.

Minsa Corp. in Muleshoe, Texas, cited for 33 serious violations and $151,200 in fines

PITTSBURG, Kan. — Two Lone Star Management LLC employees were directed to use a gas-powered forklift to move pallets of fireworks and cardboard out of an explosives storage facility in Pittsburg when the gas ignited, which caused an explosion and fire. Within seconds, the trapped employees became engulfed in flames. The inferno took the life of one 28-year-old worker and left a 43-year-old co-worker to suffer with burns over 80 percent of his body and the possibility of never working again.

Date of Action: January 8, 2015

Type of Action: Complaint and Consent Judgment and Order

Names of Defendants: Richard Curtis Herring.

BALTIMORE — The Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University will pay $359,253 to settle allegations of discrimination made by two African American women who were employed at its Laurel, Md. facility. An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs determined that the lab violated Executive Order 11246, which prohibits federal contractors from discriminating in employment on the basis of race or sex.

WASHINGTON — With an estimated 215 million children engaged in child labor and nearly 21 million victims of forced labor worldwide, it's critical that investments in projects to improve their lives employ the most effective and efficient interventions. Strong project monitoring and rigorous evaluations are necessary to determine which of many possible approaches will most effectively secure and protect the rights of these children and adults. The U.S.

Participant: Mine Safety and Health Administration

Description: The Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 117 citations and four orders during special impact inspections conducted at 10 coal mines and two metal and nonmetal mines in December.

Participant: Mine Safety and Health Administration

Description: The Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 117 citations and four orders during special impact inspections conducted at 10 coal mines and two metal and nonmetal mines in December.