Employer name: Metallurgical Processing Inc.

Investigation site: 50 — 58 Arthur St., New Britain, Conn. 06053

Investigation findings: The Hartford Area Office of the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration began inspections on Jan. 15, 2015, in response to employee complaints. The inspections found employees of the company, which performs heat treatment on metal parts, were exposed to a variety of fire, explosion, chemical and mechanical hazards.

WASHINGTON — Ricardo stands on his tiptoes, straining to reach into a tangle of branches to retrieve a cluster of coffee berries. He makes his way along the row of trees, each laden with hundreds of the tiny fruit, dropping them carefully in his basket. He repeats this process for hours. His unprotected hands and arms are covered with scratches, his bare feet and legs bitten by bugs, his skin scorched by the hot sun. At 10 years old, this is the world he knows; he has never seen the inside of a classroom.

WASHINGTON — Now well into its fourth year, one of the worst droughts in California in more than a century continues to cause economic insecurity for many families in the region, particularly in the agriculture sector. A recent University of California Davis study estimates 18,000 people lost jobs because of drought.

FARGO, N.D. — A Fargo-based hotel owner who cheated his workers out of their wages must pay more than $180,000 to approximately 200 current and former workers at 15 North Dakota, Montana and Minnesota hotels.

The U.S. District Court of North Dakota has entered a consent judgment ordering Bharat I. Patel to pay back wages and liquidated damages to resolve a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Attorney for the District of North Dakota.

Employer name: Gate Precast Co. and Trueblue Inc., doing business as Labor Ready

Site: Shenandoah, Texas

Date citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the employers on July 16, for exposing workers to fall hazards at a construction site.

Participants: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration renewed a two-year alliance July 16, with the South Louisiana Service, Transmission, Exploration and Production Safety Network.

When and Where: July 16 at Safety Management Systems, Lafayette, LA.

MIDDLEFIELD, Ohio — A teenage worker's life was altered forever when his employer allowed him to operate machinery illegally and the 14-year-old lost his hand in the process.

Shady Knob Pallet Co. of Middlefield received citations from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration on July 7. The citations followed an inspection that found the young man suffered the injury when he touched the operating parts of a wood planer while manufacturing pallets on March 31.

DALLAS — A local steel fabricator continues to put its workers in harm's way, despite its awareness of hazards at its Farmers Branch facility, and a recent federal inspection that found more than a dozen safety violations.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A storage tank manufacturer exposed workers to hazardous levels of hexavalent chromium and potentially deafening noise as they welded and grinded stainless steel and other alloy steels. At high levels, hexavalent chromium can cause lung cancer and respiratory, eye and skin damage.

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill. — A 25-ton power press crushed a temporary worker's right ring finger when the machine she operated cycled through while her hand was inside. The incident, at a steel parts manufacturing plant in Elk Grove Village, occurred when light curtains that act as machine guards failed to work properly. The woman suffered the injury after just 10 days at Topy Precision Manufacturing Inc.

Employer name: Transformers Construction Services Inc. and Buildtronix LLC, owned by Leanna Richardson.

Inspection sites: 25 Molasses Court, St. Johns, Florida 32259 and 65 Morning Star Way, Ponte Vedra, Florida 32081

Date citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued the employer citations on June 26.

Date of Action: July 16, 2015

Type of Action: Lawsuit

Name(s) of Defendant: Stewart Environmental Consultants LLC, located and doing business in Fort Collins, Colorado, and owner David Stewart

Employer name: Pegasso Construction & Floor Covering LLC

Investigation site: Office at 1746 Hazel Wood Drive, Marietta, Ga., 30067 and various jobsites including Ft. Gordon army base in Augusta, Ga.

SEATTLE — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has again ordered Oak Harbor Freight Lines Inc. to stop retaliating against truck drivers who refuse to drive when they feel too ill or fatigued.

NEW PHILADELPHIA, Ohio — A hydraulic press crushed a 62-year-old machine operator's left hand at a seal and gasket manufacturer, resulting in multiple broken bones. The injured worker, a 15-year employee, has been unable to return to work and has endured three surgeries as a result.

Date of Action: July 11, 2015

Type of Action: The U.S. Department of Labor filed a lawsuit against Michelson Energy Co. and three defendants in connection with the Michelson Energy Co. 401(k) and Profit Sharing Plan to recover $126,000 in missing retirement funds affecting 26 workers.

Participants: U.S. Department of Labor, Kentucky Labor Cabinet

Description: Officials from the U.S. Department of Labor and the Kentucky Labor Cabinet signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the goal of protecting the rights of employees by preventing their misclassification as independent contractors or other non-employee statuses. Under the agreement, both agencies may share information and coordinate law enforcement.

Employer name: Hugo's Roofing Contractors Inc. 26889 Muenz Road Wright City, Missouri

Investigation site: 214 Arbor Meadows Court Fairview Heights, Illinois

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A consent judgement issued by a Kentucky federal court will recover nearly $300,000 for a pension plan in Michigan, and ban the defendants from serving as plan fiduciaries or service providers again.

Date of Action: June 29, 2015

Type of Action: Complaint

Names of Defendants: James Brunk, Brunk Industries, Inc. and the Contractors and Employees 401(k) Plan as sponsored by Brunk Industries, Inc. of Fresno, California