Investigation finds electric heater and fumes caused gas explosion

CUMMINGS, Kan. — Two workers endured several weeks of skin graft surgery and physical therapy after suffering second-degree burns when gas vapors exploded in a railcar in December 2014 at GBW Railcar Services LLC. The car was being prepared for cleaning when an electric heater ignited the flammable gas. Seven other workers were treated for injuries and released from the hospital.

Employer name: Shoreline Foundation Inc.

Inspection site: 2781 SW 56th Avenue, Pembroke Park, Florida 33023

Date inspection initiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated the Dec. 18, 2014, inspection after receiving a complaint alleging workplace hazards.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Jeffrey Angstadt didn't want days off to relax. In September 2010 and over the months that followed, the furniture sales executive told his employer, Staples Contract and Commercial, Inc., a subsidiary of Staples, Inc., that he needed to take leave to care for his critically ill wife. While Angstadt was eligible for federal workplace protections for those coping with the illness of a family member, no one at Staples notified him as the law requires.

Projects in 14 states seek to strengthen communities and improve public safety

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit against Gruber Systems Inc. and its CEO John Hoskinson alleging that the defendants caused the company's employee stock ownership plan participants to lose money when the plan purchased additional company stock for significantly more than fair market value in two transactions totaling $2.6 million.

The suit alleges that this money should have been set aside to fund the retirement accounts of Gruber retirees, but was steered into the stock purchase to fund the financially distressed company.

Employer name: Shogun Japanese Steakhouse Inc., and Shogun Japanese Steakhouse of Louisville Inc.

Investigation site: 3991 University Drive, Huntsville, Alabama, 4110 Hampton Lake Way and 9026 Taylorsville Road, Louisville, Kentucky

DALLAS — Deval LLC, a federal contractor for loan servicing support, did not pay its employees the prevailing wages or fringe benefits they rightfully earned under the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act, a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation has found. The company has a contract with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Employer: Andale Construction Inc.

Site: 3410 West Adams Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85009

Employer name: Detyens Shipyards Inc.

Inspection site: 1670 Dry Dock Avenue, North Charleston, South Carolina 29405

Date inspection initiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration performed a comprehensive inspection on Dec. 2, 2014, as part of its Regional Emphasis Program on Maritime Industries.

Employer name: Suburban General Construction Inc., 1019 E. 31st Street, La Grange Park, Illinois

Investigation site: 1515 Lathrop Ave., River Forest, Illinois

HAVERTOWN, Pa. — For six masonry workers installing brick facades on two new residential properties in Philadelphia, each day on-the-job could have been their last.

DALLAS — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration urges everyone engaged in cleanup after the recent floods in Texas — employers, workers and the public — to avoid potential hazards and take steps to protect themselves.

Employer: G R Produce

Site: McAllen, Texas

HONOLULU — A California-based heating, ventilation and air conditioning subcontractor has paid 58 workers $99,681 in back wages after an investigation found federal wage and hour laws were violated on three federally funded construction projects awarded by the U.S. Army in Hawaii between 2011 and 2013.

WINESBURG, Ohio — Less than two years after agreeing to address safety violations in a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Case Farms Processing Inc. exposed workers to the same dangerous machinery hazards at its Winesburg facility.

OSHA proposes nearly $172K in penalties for 3 New Jersey employers

Employers' Names and Locations: The production warehouse of soft drink manufacturer Whitlock Packaging Corp. is located at 92 N. Main St. in Wharton, New Jersey.

Customized Distribution Services Inc., a general warehousing and storage contractor hired by Whitlock to run the warehouse's day-to-day operations, is located at 20 Harry Shupe Blvd. in Wharton.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor and other federal agencies will host two town hall meetings on June 16 and 17 in Bridgeton, Missouri. The meetings will provide current and former nuclear weapons employees who worked at 11 covered facilities in Missouri with information regarding benefits available to them under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act.

SALT LAKE CITY — For construction workers, every dollar is hard-earned. Harder still is accepting that their employers cheated them out of earned wages by violating their rights. With the help of the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, more than 2,700 Utah construction workers are getting the wages they deserve.

Date and Time: June 3, 2015 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST

Location: Jacob K. Javits Federal Building, 26 Federal Plaza, Conference Room J, New York, N.Y. 10278