O’FALLON, Mo. – Federal safety inspectors found a 5-foot high, 15-foot long pile of trash between employees at a Missouri Dollar General store and an emergency exit, one of nine safety violations that put workers at the O’Fallon location at risk.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The increased likelihood that workers in high-hazard manufacturing industries – such as food, furniture, fabricated metal, nonmetallic mineral, machinery and computer products – will be injured on the job is leading federal safety and health inspectors in three Midwestern states to increase its focus on industry outreach and inspections to reduce injury and illness rates.

More than 340 workers died in fatal manufacturing incidents nationwide in 2014, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

CANTON, Ohio ‒ A 39-year-old worker suffered multiple broken bones after he fell more than 40 feet while conducting maintenance on a crane at TimkenSteel’s Faircrest Plant. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found the company failed to provide the worker adequate fall protection. The Aug. 7, 2015, injury was the second life-threatening injury at a TimkenSteel plant since May 2015.

Date of Action: Jan. 24, 2016

Type of Action: U.S. Department of Labor filed a lawsuit against the International Association of Machinists National Pension Fund and its board of trustees for multiple violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

State: California

Type of Award: National Dislocated Worker Grant

Total Amount Approved: $3,200,000

Initial Award Amount: $1,539,570

Awarded to: The NOVA Workforce Board

Number of Workers Served: About 920

ARLINGTON, Va. – Eighteen months after its landmark rule aimed at preventing black lung disease took effect, the Mine Safety and Health Administration is implementing Phase II.

Date of action:  January 28, 2016

Type of action:  Consent Judgment and Order

Name of defendants: Gruber Systems Inc.; Gruber Systems Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan; and John Hoskinson, an individual

Employer: Daeil USA Corp.

Inspection site: 1135 Towel Ave., Valley, Alabama 36854

Citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to the employer on Jan. 28 for one willful, five repeated, 10 serious and one other-than-serious safety violation. Daeil manufactures struts and other automobile parts for Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motor Co.

Employer name: L&P Springs Manufacturing LLC, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Citations issued: Jan. 27, 2016

Employer: Daeil USA Corp.

Inspection site: 1135 Towel Ave., Valley, Alabama 36854

Citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to the employer on Jan. 28 for one willful, five repeated, 10 serious and one other-than-serious safety violation. Daeil manufactures struts and other automobile parts for Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motor Co.

Who: U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration

What: The Mine Safety and Health Administration announced today that federal inspectors issued 163 citations and five orders during special impact inspections conducted at 10 coal mines and seven metal and nonmetal mines in December 2015.

Where: MSHA conducted special impact inspections at mines in Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

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 2015:

“With today’s Bureau of Labor Statistics’ report, we are reminded again that the labor movement continues to be one of the most powerful forces for strengthening the middle class and providing economic stability, for members and non-members alike.

Employer name: Hurtado Construction Co., Richmond, Texas

Inspection Site: Corner of Mae Street and Avenue D, Katy, Texas

Citations issued: Jan. 22, 2016

Employer name: Services Plus Inc.

Inspection site: 1001 Discovery Road, Green Bay, Wisconsin

Citations received: Jan. 27, 2016

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Appleton Area Office cited the Services Plus Inc., a Green Bay packaging company, for one willful and five serious safety violations.

Employer name: Seitz Tech LLC., 1041 Hickory Hill Road, Oxford, Pennsylvania

Citations issued: On Jan. 21, 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for four repeat and one serious safety violations.

In the week ending January 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 278,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 293,000 to 294,000. The 4-week moving average was 283,000, a decrease of 2,250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 285,000 to 285,250.

Employer: C&C Security Inc., doing business as Cast and Crew Security

Site: 438 Hobron Lane #117, Honolulu, HI 96815

Employer: PR Drywall LLC

Site: 2730 SE 39th Loop Suite E, Hillsboro, Oregon

CLEVELAND, Ohio ‒ The death of a 30-year-old worker from acute methylene chloride exposure could have been avoided if his employer had protected him properly from dangerous exposure to the toxin in the paint remover he used to deglaze a bathtub in a Cuyahoga County public housing complex, federal investigators determined.

Employer name:  U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Correctional Institute Allenwood

Inspection site:  Main Access Road and State Route 15, White Deer, Pennsylvania

Notices issued: On Jan. 22, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a notice to the medium security federal correctional facility after inspectors identified one willful violation.