SIOUX FALLS, SD - After severe weather, such as the windstorm that roared across South Dakota on May 12, workers and others involved in storm cleanup may face hazards related to falls, downed power lines and sharp debris as they conduct recovery and cleanup operations.

Employers and workers should also be aware of heat illness and hazards from equipment used during response/recovery operations, such as chain saws.

BRECKENRIDGE, CO – One worker suffered fatal injuries and two co-workers barely escaped similar fates when they were rescued from a trench that collapsed as they installed sewer pipes in a Breckenridge neighborhood on Nov. 16, 2021.

CAMBRIA, WI – A federal grand jury has indicted the operator and six management officials of a Cambria corn mill – where a May 31, 2017, explosion killed five workers and injured 15 others – on nine criminal counts, including two counts related to willful violations of federal workplace safety standards for grain handling.

MOUNT VERNON, IL – In two separate incidents on consecutive days in November 2021, three workers at a southern Illinois tire plant suffered severe injuries in incidents associated with a mixer containing a combustible dust and a flammable gas, guarding moving equipment and the failure to implement and enforce procedures to control the unintentional energization of equipment during servicing.

BOSTON – As temperatures rise in New England, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration reminds employers and workers not to ignore the dangers of working in hot weather – indoors and out – and remember that “Water. Rest. Shade.” can be the difference between ending the workday safely or suffering serious injuries or worse.

SIOUX FALLS, SD – Twice in seven days, federal workplace safety inspectors found a Sioux Falls contractor put workers at risk of being buried under thousands of pounds of soil while they worked in unprotected trenches at two locations in Tea and Salem.

DALLAS – As temperatures rise in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration reminds employers and workers not to ignore the dangers of working in hot weather – indoors and out – and remember “Water. Rest. Shade.” can be the difference between ending the workday safely or suffering serious injuries or worse.

DENVER – Following a 90-day outreach period, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Regional Emphasis Program for Noise Induced Hearing Loss will move into the enforcement phase beginning May 17, 2022. The emphasis program targets manufacturing industries with high rates of occupational hearing loss in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.

GRASSY BUTTE, ND – Federal workplace safety investigators determined that an oil company’s failure to take adequate safety precautions contributed to a drilling site explosion near Grassy Butte on Nov. 4, 2021, that permanently disabled one worker and left two others with serious injuries.

MILWAUKEE – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Wisconsin On-Site Safety and Health Consultation Program, Gilbane Building Co., C.D. Smith Construction and labor unions are partnering to protect worker safety and health at the Wisconsin Center Expansion project in Milwaukee.

COVINGTON, GA – A federal workplace safety investigation has determined that two companies failed to follow required safety standards that could have prevented a bridge collapse and spared the life of a 33-year-old worker on a demolition project in Covington on Oct. 19, 2021.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Federal workplace safety investigators found that a construction company’s failure to prevent sudden start-up of a conveyor system contributed to an 18-year-old worker’s fatal injuries after he was pulled into a hot asphalt silo as he tried to remove debris from the conveyor in Oklahoma City on Nov. 2, 2021.

Participant:   Acushnet Company, Custom Operations. New Bedford, Massachusetts

Company name:       

All Best Contractor Corp.

1403 Greeby St.

Philadelphia, PA

Inspection sites:        

30 Boardwalk Drive, Eastampton

108 Bridge Blvd., Eastampton

 57 Westmont Drive, Medford

ST. LOUIS ‒ Seeking to challenge an unfortunate fact in the cold steel manufacturing industry – where nearly 4 percent of all cold steel workers suffer recordable injuries each year – one Missouri company took action in 2016, setting a goal to change its safety culture to develop a better safety awareness and risk assessment of the potential for employee’s getting injured on the job.

ST. LOUIS – A workplace safety investigation following a worker’s fatal crushing injuries at a St. Louis recycling facility on Oct. 26, 2021, alleges the company failed to erect guards or barriers to prevent workers from falling into a paper baler and de-energize the conveyor and baler while the worker cleared a jam.

EDWARDSVILLE, IL – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a Hazard Alert Letter to Amazon, requiring the online retailer to review its severe weather emergency procedures after six contractors were fatally injured and another severely injured when a tornado struck Amazon’s Edwardsville warehouse on Dec. 10, 2021.

ROMEOVILLE, IL – Twenty times in the past five years, federal workplace safety investigators have cited a food manufacturer for exposing workers to amputation and other serious hazards.

BOISE, ID – A federal investigation has determined that Professional Security Consultants Inc. – a Los Angeles-based security company that provides officers for shopping malls, schools, hotels, hospitals, office buildings and gated communities – repeatedly exposed its employees at the Boise Towne Square mall to workplace violence hazards and failed to follow its own procedures for interacting with armed individuals to enforce the mall’s code of conduct.

WASHINGTON – Each year, the families and friends of fallen workers, and organizations, including the U.S. Department of Labor and its Occupational Safety and Health Administration sadly observe April 28 as Workers Memorial Day.