June 15, 2015

OSHA News Brief: OSHA finds plastic recycler, Cycle Tex Inc., continues to expose workers to fall and amputation hazards [06/15/2015]

Employer name: Cycle Tex Inc.

Inspection site: 906 East Hermitage Road, Rome, Georgia 30161

Date inspection initiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated the Jan. 20, 2015, inspection after the agency received a complaint.

June 15, 2015

OPA News Release: Paid leave effort gets $1.25M to study expansion in U.S. [06/15/2015]

US Department of Labor's Women's Bureau offers funding opportunity

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that $1.25 million will be made available to research and analyze how paid leave programs can be developed and implemented across the country. The department's Women's Bureau will administer the funding opportunity.

June 12, 2015

OSHA News Brief: OSHA cites Republic Steel for fall hazards at Lorain, Ohio, mill [06/12/2015]

Employer name: Republic Steel Canton, Ohio

Investigation site: 1807 E. 28th Street Lorain, Ohio

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: On Dec. 12, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Toledo Area Office initiated an inspection at Republic Steel's Lorain, Ohio, mill after receiving a report that a worker fell from a height of about 12 feet. The 17-year-employee suffered contusions to the back, shoulder and abdomen.

June 12, 2015

OSHA News Release: East Greenwich, Rhode Island, health clinic provider lacks effective blood hazard safeguards [06/12/2015]

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — An East Greenwich company that conducts wellness clinics throughout the U.S. inadequately protected its employees against exposure from contaminated needlesticks and bloodborne pathogen hazards, an inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found.

June 12, 2015

ILAB News Release: Child labor prosecutor Alain-Georges Moukoko of Gabon honored as 2015 Iqbal Masih Award recipient [06/12/2015]

WASHINGTON — In April 1995, on a dusty, rural road in his native Pakistan, 13-year-old Iqbal Masih was riding his bicycle when an unknown gunman shot and killed him. Three years earlier, he had escaped after five years of slavery as a carpet weaver to become an outspoken advocate against child exploitation.

June 11, 2015

OSHA News Release: 7,600-pound conveyor crushes worker after weld failure — a preventable death, says OSHA [06/11/2015]

CLAYCOMO, Mo. — The death of a 52-year-old contractor, crushed by a conveyor carriage weighing nearly 4 tons at an automotive assembly plant, could have been averted if his employer followed federal safety standards, U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators determined.

In December 2014, a weld failure caused a temporary support safety pin to disengage on an assembly line conveyor carriage at the Ford Kansas City Assembly Plant in Claycomo. The 7,600-pound carriage then fell on the worker.

June 11, 2015

OSHA News Release: Statement by OSHA on indictment of roofing company owner charged today in employee's fatal fall [06/11/2015]

PHILADELPHIA — Robert D. Kulick, acting OSHA regional administrator in Philadelphia, issued the following statement about roofing company owner James J. McCullagh being charged by indictment today in connection with the fatal fall of an employee.

June 11, 2015

ILAB News Release: $10 million announced to fight forced labor of adults and children globally [06/11/2015]

WASHINGTON — For children facing work-filled days — lifting heavy rocks, cutting sugar cane, or weaving carpets — the promise of even a basic education may seem remote. Add the threat of retaliation or violence, under the watchful eye of an employer, and the glimmer of that promise fades even further.

For communities to thrive, children need opportunities to learn and grow. Their families need opportunities to earn a decent living. And everyone needs the freedom of choice to learn and venture as far as their hard work will take them.

June 10, 2015

WHD News Brief: US Department of Labor files suit alleging Columbus, Ohio, day care workers did not earn minimum wage or overtime pay [06/10/2015]

Type of Action: Fair Labor Standards Act Lawsuit

Name of Defendant: Here to Help Learning Academy LLC and Michele Blake in Columbus, Ohio

Allegations: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found that the Columbus, Ohio-based Here to Help Learning Academy LLC violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

June 10, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Workers exposed to physical injury, amputation risks at chemical manufacturing facility [06/10/2015]

Employer Name: Venture Chemicals Inc.

Location: Seagraves, Texas

Date Inspection Initiated and What Prompted the Inspection: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration opened the inspection in December 2014 after an employee was fatally caught in a mixer/auger bin.

June 10, 2015

OSHA News Brief: Contender Boats continues to expose workers to fall, amputations and electrical hazards [06/10/2015]

Employer name: Contender Boats Inc.

Inspection site: 1820 SE 38th Avenue, Homestead, Florida 33035

Date inspection initiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated the Dec. 16, 2014, inspection as part of the agency's Site Specific Targeting Program.

June 10, 2015

OSHA News Release: OSHA orders safety upgrades after 7-ton buoy hits, kills 2 workers and injures 2 others at Pearl Harbor naval facility [06/10/2015]

HONOLULU — Stronger safety measures may have saved the lives of two workers who died at a Pearl Harbor naval maintenance facility in December 2014 after being struck by a 7-ton buoy, which has led the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration to order safety upgrades.

June 10, 2015

ETA News Release: $34M available to enhance, expand innovation and accountability in workforce development programs [06/10/2015]

WASHINGTON — Successful workforce development programs depend on continuous improvement and innovation. To ensure these programs are efficient and effective, the U.S. Department of Labor created the Workforce Innovation Fund. The fund provides the support needed to enhance federally funded employment and training programs and study these programs to identify and share best practices in workforce development.

June 9, 2015

Defendants to restore $26K to Windham, Maine, Simple IRA plan following US Labor Department lawsuit

Date of action: June 1, 2015

Type of action: Consent Judgment and Order.

Names of defendant: Seavey’s Furniture & Appliance Inc. and Timothy W. Seavey

Allegations: The Seavey’s Furniture & Appliance Inc. Simple IRA plan was established to provide retirement benefits for participating employees of Seavey’s Furniture & Appliance Inc., located in Windham, Maine. The plan was funded by amounts withheld from employees’ paychecks as employee contributions and by matching employer contributions.

June 9, 2015

EBSA News Brief: Defendants to restore $26K to Windham, Maine, Simple IRA plan following US Labor Department lawsuit [06/09/2015]

Date of action: June 1, 2015

Type of action: Consent Judgment and Order.

Names of defendant: Seavey's Furniture & Appliance Inc. and Timothy W. Seavey

June 8, 2015

Owner of former company in Emeryville, California, convicted of grand theft in 401(k) retirement funds case investigated by US Department of Labor

Date of action: May 26, 2015

Type of action: Criminal Conviction and Sentence

Name of defendant: Lance Silva

June 8, 2015

WHD News Brief: Tucson restaurant/garage to return more than $34K in overtime, damages [06/08/2015]

Employer: Hot Rods Restaurant Inc. and Hot Rods Garage Inc., doing business as Hotrods Old Vail

Site: 10500 East Old Vail Road, Tucson, Arizona

June 8, 2015

WHD News Brief: Portland roofing company to return nearly $38K in overtime wages to 32 workers [06/08/2015]

Employer: Ri-Ky Roofing

Sites: 10213 NE Marx St., Portland, Oregon

June 8, 2015

OSHA News Brief: OSHA cites Tip Top Roofing for 2nd time this year after workers observed roofing townhomes without the use of fall protection [06/08/2015]

Employer name: Tip Top Roofing & Construction/Tip Top Exteriors Inc. 2030 Coltonville Road, Sycamore, Illinois

Investigation site: 1990 Town Drive Naperville, Illinois

June 5, 2015

OPA News Release: Five things US Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez says you should know about the May employment numbers [06/05/2015]

WASHINGTON — With the release of the May 2015 Employment Situation Report today, U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez says there are five things you should know about its numbers: