NEW YORK – A Long Island roofing contractor has entered into a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor to resolve willful safety violations found after an employee sustained fatal injuries from an 18-foot fall through an unprotected skylight in August 2021. 

An investigation by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that DME Construction Associates Inc. exposed workers to falls of up to 22 feet at unguarded roof openings and roof edges. OSHA found that the employer failed to provide any personal fall protection equipment to employees at the Oyster Bay municipal building worksite where workers were replacing a steel roof decking.

The settlement affirms all citations issued to DME Construction Associates, including nine willful violations, eight of which were egregious per-instance citations for DME's failure to provide fall protection for each of the eight employees who worked on the roof. 

Under the agreement, DME must pay a $600,000 penalty and implement enhanced abatement measures to improve safety for workers, including developing a comprehensive written company safety plan, ensuring and documenting there is enough fall protection equipment for every worker on every jobsite, notifying OSHA of all upcoming jobs at least a week in advance, permitting warrantless entry by OSHA at all worksites, and requiring all DME supervisors to complete OSHA’s 30-hour construction safety training.

DME Construction Associates and owner Peter Chardon await an April sentencing date after pleading guilty in November 2025 to a criminal violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act related to this fatality.

Learn more about OSHA and protecting workers against falls.

CONCORD, NH – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has signed a strategic partnership with the Methuen Obayashi Joint Venture to promote worker safety and health during construction of the Cemetery Brook Drain Tunnel Project in Manchester.

The project will modernize Manchester’s drainage system to reduce sewer overflows with the construction of a gravity-fed stormwater conveyance tunnel. OSHA’s partnership with the civil construction company seeks to prevent workers’ exposure to gas, pressurized zones, confined spaces and struck-by incidents, and ensure the use of shoring and protective systems in excavations.

The initiative will also assist contractors in developing and implementing safety and health management systems and train subcontractors on recognizing hazards when working in and around construction sites.

Partners will emphasize leadership engagement, accountability measures, worker participation strategies, and robust hazard identification protocols.

OSHA’s Strategic Partnership Program works with employers, employees, professional and trade associations, labor organizations and other interested stakeholders to establish specific goals, strategies and performance measures to improve worker safety and health. Learn more about OSHA.

FORT WORTH, TX – The U.S. Department of Labor has ordered Fort Worth-based trucking company Balkan Express LLC to reinstate and compensate a worker who was terminated after reporting safety concerns, in violation of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act, which protects commercial motor vehicle safety complaints.

The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration ordered Balkan Express to reinstate the employee and pay back wages, interest, compensatory, and punitive damages totaling more than $100,000.

OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Programs enforces 25 whistleblower statutes that protect employees from retaliation for reporting potential violations involving safety, health, environmental protection, and other public interest concerns. 

For information on whistleblower protections, visit OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Programs webpage.

MANCHESTER, NH – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has signed a strategic partnership with Harvey Construction Corp. to promote worker safety and health during construction of the Mark Stebbins Community Center.

The partnership with the Bedford-based commercial construction company seeks to prevent worker injuries and exposure to hazards by developing a contractor-government approach to safety and health. The initiative will also assist contractors in developing and implementing safety and health management systems and providing training to employees, employers and supervisors. 

Participants will focus on identifying and preventing common hazards on large-scale construction projects, such as falls and being struck by or caught in materials or equipment.

The Mark Stebbins Community Center project consists of the construction of the Community Center for Boys and Girls Club of Manchester with a multipurpose gym and the Amoskeag Health Medical Clinic that will offer outpatient services in Manchester.

OSHA’s Strategic Partnership Program works with employers, employees, professional and trade associations, labor organizations and other interested stakeholders to establish specific goals, strategies and performance measures to improve worker safety and health. Learn more about OSHA.

COLUMBUS, OH – The U.S. Department of Labor has cited an Ohio commercial bakery after a federal investigation determined the employer had allegedly exposed workers to unsafe working conditions including chemical, caught-between and caught-in, pinch-point, and struck-by hazards. 

In addition to these serious safety violations, OSHA cited the employer for three repeat violations for failing to train workers on lockout/tagout procedures, failing to lockout and tagout machines, and failing to guard dangerous machines. These violations exposed employees to pinch-point, struck-by, and caught-in hazards.

OSHA cited New Horizons Baking Co. for three repeat, nine serious and one other-than-serious violations, with proposed penalties of $394,849. 

The company has 15 business days from receipt of their citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Penalties and citations may be adjusted throughout the course of the case. Please check the OSHA establishment search page periodically for any changes in the inspection or penalty status. 

Learn about controlling hazardous energy and permit-required confined spaces. 

Learn more about OSHA. Employers can also contact the agency for information about OSHA’s compliance assistance resources and for free help on complying with OSHA standards.

BRIDGEPORT, CT – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has again cited an Easton concrete and earthwork contractor for willfully failing to protect workers from cave-in and excavation hazards and proposed more than $1.2 million in fines after a follow-up inspection uncovered numerous willful violations. 

In December 2023, OSHA officials responded to a workplace fatality at a New Canaan worksite that claimed the life of a Sound Construction Inc. worker. As a result of that investigation, OSHA cited the employer for two willful and five serious violations and entered into a settlement agreement requiring the owner to submit monthly lists of active worksites and allow OSHA to randomly inspect them to determine trenching and excavation safety standard compliance. 

On June 12, 2025, OSHA initiated an inspection at a Sound Construction site in Stamford and cited the employer for seven willful and four serious violations related to excavation hazards. Inspectors found the employer failed to train workers on unsafe trenching and excavation hazards, provide adequate protection from cave-ins, require daily excavation inspections, follow trench shield installation standards, and backfill shields to prevent hazardous movement.

OSHA proposed $1,224,798 in penalties for violations found in the follow-up inspection.

The employer has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Penalties and citations may be adjusted throughout the course of the case process. Please check the OSHA establishment search page periodically for any changes in the inspection or penalty status.

OSHA’s Trenching and Excavation Safety fact sheet includes information on standard requirements, hazard recognition, and controlling worker exposure to hazards commonly associated with the industry. Employers can contact the agency for information about OSHA’s compliance assistance resources and for free help on complying with OSHA standards.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced today that it has issued seven letters of interpretation to ensure the consistent and transparent application of federal workplace safety and health standards.

As part of the Trump Administration’s broader emphasis on compliance assistance, OSHA’s letters of interpretation provide official explanations of the agency’s requirements and how they apply to specific workplace situations and hazardous conditions posed by employers, employees, or other parties.

“From construction to engineering, OSHA is providing decisive guidance after gathering feedback from employers, demonstrating our opinion letter program has already been effective,” said Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling. “This effort is a key component of the Trump Administration’s comprehensive strategy to educate the public and empower employers to keep their workers safe.”

Letters of interpretation issued this year address the following situations:

• Permit Required Confined Space: Whether the confined space standard requires employers to drain water from pipes before entering for repairs, even when a hazard assessment shows no risk of rupture or leaks.
• Enforcement Stay of the COVID-19 Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements under 29 CFR 1910.502: The enforcement status of OSHA’s COVID-19 reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
• Requirements Powered Industrial Truck Training Program Implementation: Whether an employee can demonstrate competence and knowledge in operating power industrial trucks via a live-streamed session.
• Software used to generate equivalent OSHA Forms 300 and 300A: If companies are permitted to use their own software-generated documents to replace OSHA Form 300 and Form 300A for recordkeeping.
• Engineering controls under the Benzene and 1,3-Butadiene standards: Whether installing bellow valves, leak-proof, or double-seal valves qualifies as engineering controls.
• Audiometric testing of a worker who may have a cochlear implant: How audiometric testing applies to workers using cochlear implants.
• Stair Angle and Tread Depth Requirements: Whether stair and tread angles of specific dimensions comply with OSHA’s standard on stairways.

In June, Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling announced the launch of the department’s opinion letter program. This initiative reinforces the department’s commitment to offering valuable compliance assistance for workers, employers, and other stakeholders to help them comprehend how federal labor laws pertain to specific workplace scenarios.

The public is encouraged to visit OSHA’s Letters of Interpretation page to review previous guidance and submit new requests. These letters provide clear explanations that support compliance and training requirements, helping to keep America’s workers safe and healthy.

POCATELLO, ID – The U.S. Department of Labor has cited an Idaho transformer producer for failing to correct hazards previously identified by federal inspectors and repeatedly exposing workers to serious safety hazards. 

In June 2025, inspectors with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined that Virginia Transformer Corp. exposed employees to hazards similar to those identified during two 2024 inspections involving cranes used to handle heavy loads with faulty brakes and switches. 

OSHA cited the company for 53 serious and repeat violations, including failure to guard machinery, exposing workers to fall hazards, and failure to provide personal protective equipment. The company faces proposed penalties of $986,888.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Penalties and citations may be adjusted throughout the course of the case. Please check the OSHA establishment search page periodically for any changes in the inspection or penalty status.  

Learn more about OSHA. Employers can contact the agency for information about OSHA’s compliance assistance resources and for free help complying with OSHA standards.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has resumed normal enforcement operations and is working diligently to continue its mission to ensure safe and healthy working conditions free from unlawful retaliation, while also helping employers reduce job hazards following a lapse in appropriations. 

During the lapse in appropriations, OSHA received safety and health complaints that did not meet criteria for excepted activity and, therefore, were not processed upon receipt. The agency is now actively addressing the backlog of complaints, which may be processed via informal inquiry, and OSHA will respond as quickly as possible. Individuals do not need to resubmit their complaints.

Additionally, OSHA has extended the time employers have to respond to citations issued immediately prior to or during the government shutdown. Shutdown days do not count as “working days.” For employers whose citations were issued and/or received between October 1 and November 12, 2025, OSHA tolled the 15-day contest period due to the lapse in appropriations. These contest periods are now extended through December 4, 2025. 

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, a company has 15 working days from receipt of their citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Penalties and citations may be adjusted throughout the course of the case process. Please check the OSHA establishment search page periodically for any changes in the inspection or penalty status.

Visit OSHA’s website for information about the inspection process. Employers can also contact the agency for information about OSHA’s compliance assistance resources and for free help on complying with OSHA standards. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has cited a fresh-cut vegetable processing company for willfully and repeatedly violating safety requirements after a worker was fatally injured while cleaning and sanitizing a machine. 

In May 2025, the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated an inspection into Taylor Farms New Jersey Inc. after being notified of the fatality at its processing facility in Swedesboro, New Jersey. Inspectors determined that Taylor Farms, a subsidiary of Taylor Fresh Foods Inc., failed to implement proper lockout/tagout procedures to protect workers from severe injuries during sanitation activities.

OSHA cited Taylor Farms for 16 safety violations related to the lack of lockout/tagout procedures, as well as failure to implement lockout/tagout requirements or provide training, and proposed penalties totaling $1,125,484. Additionally, PL Solutions Group LLC, operating as People Logistics, the onsite temporary employment agency, was cited for three serious violations with proposed penalties of $33,100 for not implementing or training workers on lockout/tagout procedures.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of their citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Penalties and citations may be adjusted throughout the course of the case process. Please check the OSHA establishment search page periodically for any changes in the inspection or penalty status.

Learn more about the dangers of unguarded machines and how to keep workers safe.