Employer name: Quality Christmas Tree Ltd., doing business as Houston Garden Center

Location: 1700 West Loop North, Houston, Texas 77008

Citations issued: March 28, 2016

SYRCAUSE, N.Y. – Even vinegar can be hazardous under certain circumstances.

An employee at the Rob Salamida Co. food manufacturing plant in Johnson City was instructed to enter and clean the insides of a 3,000-gallon tank containing vinegar on Sept. 28, 2015. Once inside, he was overcome by acetic acid vapors created by the vinegar in the tank. He was rescued but was hospitalized for five days. 

Date of action: Jan. 11, 2016

Type of action: Stipulated Settlement

Names of defendants: Anheuser-Busch Sales of New Jersey LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch Inbev SA/NV.

BEAVER, Pa. – Twenty-one-year-old Jacob Casher was still a “new guy” employed by a Beaver-based plumbing company when he left home for work in September 2015. He probably never imagined that, as he worked to install a sewer line 11-feet underground in Butler, it was to be the last day of his life.

NIAGARA, Wis. – For the sixth time since 2011, federal inspectors found a Wisconsin wood pallet manufacturer failed to comply with safety and health standards – putting its employees in jeopardy of suffering amputation, burns and other life-threatening injuries.

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor has reached a settlement agreement with Dover Greens LLC, formerly known as Olivet Management LLC, which commits the real estate development and management company to provide and maintain enhanced safeguards for workers renovating the former Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center in Dover Plains. 

GLIDDEN, Wis. ‒ A Wisconsin wood décor and floral supplier exposed workers to toxic levels of chemicals in adhesives and paints because, federal inspectors determined, the workplace lacked adequate engineering controls needed to reduce harmful vapors.

On March 24, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Winter Woods Inc. for 10 serious safety violations based on the findings of its Oct. 15, 2015, investigation.

KENNETT, Mo. ‒ A machine that sizes and cuts rubber hose severed a 52-year-old woman’s right arm just nine days after she starting a new job in Kennett as a machine operator at Parker Hannifin Corporation, a global manufacturer in the mobile, industrial and aerospace markets. After an investigation, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined the machine lacked adequate safety guards to prevent the horrific injury.

Employers name: Landfried Paving Inc., 172 Crestview Drive, Greenville, Pennsylvania

Inspection site: 200 Mulberry St., Meadville, Pennsylvania  

Citations issued: On March 22, 2016, the  U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for one willful violation and two serious violations. 

OMAHA, Neb. ‒ After four preventable work-related deaths since March 9, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is urging Husker state employers to carefully review safety and health programs, and their procedures to stem the tragic tide.

ORANGE CITY, Fla. – Had their employer inspected an aerial lift properly, it might not have malfunctioned and surged forward, crushing one worker to death and severely injuring another as they removed rain gutters at a local car dealership on Sept. 30, 2015, investigators from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration have determined.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced a final rule to improve protections for workers exposed to respirable silica dust. The rule will curb lung cancer, silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and kidney disease in America’s workers by limiting their exposure to respirable crystalline silica.

Employers name: Alton Industries Inc., 11 Carlton Drive, Eighty Four, Pennsylvania

Inspection site:  704 A&B Jonagold Road, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania

Citations issued: On March 22, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for one willful and one serious violation. 

Employer name: The Kroger Co.

Inspection site: 3491 N. Bend Road, Cincinnati, Ohio

Citations issued: March 17, 2016

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Cincinnati area office cited The Kroger Store for one repeat, and one serious safety violation.

VALMEYER, Ill. – Federal investigators found blunt force trauma killed a 46-year-old worker when a tree inadvertently hit him during logging operations on a remote 100-acre Mississippi River levy site in Valmeyer.

One of the nation’s most dangerous occupations, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 77 recorded deaths in the forestry industry in 2014.

SAN ANTONIO – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited five Texas companies for failing to inform construction workers renovating a San Antonio building of the presence of dangerous asbestos, and allowing other hazards. In total, the companies now face $185,150 in fines.

Employer name: Ultratec Special Effects Inc.

Inspection site: 148 Moon Drive, Owens Cross Roads, Alabama 35763

Citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to the employer on March 18 for four repeated, six serious and five other-than-serious safety violations.

Employer name: D&J Enterprises Inc.

Inspection site: 2701 Frederick Road, Opelika, Alabama 36801

Employers name: J. Walter Miller Co., 411 East Chestnut St., Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Citations issued: On March 11, 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for 11 serious and one other than serious violations.