WILKES BARRE, Pa. – As retailers, consumers and workers head into the hectic holiday season, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is launching an enforcement initiative focused on protecting people employed in the retail industry in the greater Wilkes Barre area.

LANSDOWNE, Pa. – An administrative law judge recently affirmed nine cited federal safety and health violations and assessed $344,960 in fines against Lansdowne masonry contractor, J.C. Stucco and Stone. This follows a March 2016, hearing  regarding six willful and three repeat citations issued after two 2014 inspections by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Employer name: Hua Da Construction
917 Arch St.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Inspection site: 934 Arch St.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Citations issued: On Nov. 9, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for one repeat and one serious safety violations.

In the week ending November 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 251,000, an increase of 18,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 2,000 from 235,000 to 233,000. The 4-week moving average was 251,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 500 from 253,500 to 253,000.

Participants: U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration
The Safety Council of Northwest Ohio

Employer name: Crystal Window & Door Systems PA LLC

Inspection site: 204 Franklin Valley Road
Dalton, Pennsylvania

Citations issued: On Nov. 14, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for eight serious and one other-than-serious safety violations.

SEVEN HILLS, Ohio – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Cleveland office has opened an investigation after learning a 28-year-old employee of W.F. Hann & Sons was injured while installing sewer lines in an 8-foot trench in Seven Hills on Nov. 19, 2016.

Date of Action: Nov. 15, 2016

Type of Action: Consent judgment

Name of Defendants: Puerto Rico Police Department
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

NEW YORK – Sixty-three workers employed on the federally funded reconstruction of Chambers Street between Broadway and West St. in Lower Manhattan will receive a total of $1,190,861 in back wages following an investigation and litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, in keeping with a consent order  approved by the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges.

Who:   U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration

What: MSHA today completed its bi-annual update of its “Data at a Glance,” which shows an all-time low in the number of deaths caused by mine-related injuries for Fiscal Year 2016, and that fatality and injury rates for this period represent the lowest rates ever recorded. It also shows that Calendar Year 2015 was the safest in U.S. mining history.

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, Ohio – OSHA cited an Ohio company after a 33-year-old employee was crushed to death in June 2016 as he was digging soil out of the 12-foot trench in Washington Township, when the trench walls around him collapsed – burying him in thousands of pounds of dirt. Rescue workers recovered his body a few hours later.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration today issued a final rule updating its general industry Walking-Working Surfaces standards specific to slip, trip, and fall hazards.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration has successfully obtained a permanent injunction against Sullivan Granite Co. LLC and its owner, Conrad J. Smith, ordering him to correct all safety hazards at Brown’s Meadow Quarry in Sullivan, Maine, and prohibiting him from refusing agency inspectors entry to conduct safety inspections.

Employer name: Windy City Doc Holding LLC, doing business as Metro Diner

Investigation site: 1534 North 3^rd St.
Jacksonville, Florida 32250

In the week ending November 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 235,000, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 254,000. This is the lowest level for initial claims since November 24, 1973 when it was 233,000. The 4-week moving average was 253,500, a decrease of 6,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 259,750 to 260,000.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of more than $111 million in America’s Promise grants to 23 regional workforce partnerships in 28 states to connect more than 21,000 Americans to education and in-demand jobs.

OTTUMWA, Iowa – Southeastern Iowa’s Ottumwa Job Corps Center is now the nation’s first to offer a registered apprenticeship program from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Given by the department’s Office of Apprenticeship, the designation enables the center’s certified nursing assistant students to obtain a nationally recognized advanced certification accepted at any hospital, nursing home or care center in Iowa and transferable to any state in the nation.

Employer: Good Shepherd Home Inc., a residential care facility doing business as Good Shepherd Home, with locations in Shoreline, Washington

Sites:

PROVIDENCE, R. I. – A Wolcott, Connecticut, contractor repeatedly exposed its employees to falls of 18 feet while performing roofing work in Middletown, an inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found.

Employer name: Flacks Painting & Waterproofing Inc.

Inspection site: 1461 S. Ocean Blvd.
Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, Florida 33062

Citations issued:Citations were issued to the employer on Nov. 15, 2016.