APPLETON, WI – Federal workplace safety inspectors have found that Security-Luebke Roofing Inc. – one of Fox Valley’s largest roofing general contractors – allowed a roofing subcontractor to expose workers to potentially deadly falls at an Appleton worksite, just two months after the general contractor discussed the importance of safe work practices with the U.S. Department of Labor.

WASHINGTON ‒ Once inside a grain storage bin, a worker can find themselves engulfed or trapped by flowing grain in just seconds. In 2021, 38 percent of reported grain engulfments turned deadly because required safeguards were not followed.

Concerted efforts by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, state workplace safety officials and industry stakeholders helped to reduce the rate of fatal engulfments by 17 percent from 2020 to 2021.

FORT CAMPBELL, KY – A federal workplace safety inspection of a lawn service contractors’ operations at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, has found the company ignored safety requirements to save time, including removing safety guards on industrial lawnmowers.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration has certified the completion of all structural and developmental aspects of Maine’s State Plan for protecting the safety and health of state and local government workers.

Incident:          Fatal trench collapse in Vernon, Connecticut

Date:                July 22, 2022

DALLAS – After a nutrition specialist employed at a Dallas childcare facility raised concerns about rodents, spiders and other insects in its cafeteria, kitchen and other areas, their employer acted far from charitably and terminated the worker in August 2021.

After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration

OREGON, OH ‒ A federal investigation into two workers’ fatal burns at an Oregon, Ohio, refinery’s crude unit has found its operator, BP Products North America Inc. violated the U.S. Department of Labor’s process safety procedures for highly hazardous materials and failed to adequately train the workers.

EL PASO, TX – Federal investigators found an oil and gas company employee suffered fatal exposure to hydrogen sulfide while working near a sump pit in September 2022.

Who:             U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration

The National Safety Council-Nebraska Chapter.

                What:             Alliance

ATLANTA – While it portrays its store chain as “America’s neighborhood general store,” Dollar General Corp. and Dolgencorp LLC – one of the nation’s largest discount retailers – continues to expose workers to unsafe conditions, this time at four Florida and Georgia stores. 

ROSELAND, NE – A 34-year-old worker’s attempt to clean out a Roseland grain silo, in preparation for fall harvest, turned tragic on Sept. 12, 2022, when corn engulfed and asphyxiated him.

CUSSETA, AL – The independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission has affirmed citations issued by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration to a global auto parts supplier after the 2016 death of a 20-year-old machine operator at an Alabama manufacturing facility.  

CINCINNATI – Alerted by the concerns of the West Chester Township Fire Department in Ohio, workplace safety inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor discovered exit routes, doors and fire extinguishers blocked at a Dollar General store on Princeton Glendale Road in Cincinnati, the same kinds of dangers that have contributed to more than $15 million in proposed federal penalties for the discount retail chain since 2017.

CLEVELAND – A 51-year-old painting contractor at a residential apartment complex in Cleveland stepped onto a third-floor balcony and it tilted suddenly, causing him to fall 21 feet onto the concrete below. As he lay injured, the balcony slid off its wall mount and landed on top of the painter. He died from his injuries.

ATLANTA – Professionals from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration are participating in the 2023 Atlanta Construction Ready Career Expo – geared toward students  from Georgia’s middle, high and tech schools – to highlight the importance of on-the-job safety to the industry’s next generation of workers.

PLOVER, WI ‒ At a Plover, Wisconsin, Del Monte Foods cannery, a 20-year-old seasonal worker suffered a partial amputation of their finger after attempting to unjam an unguarded palletizer machine, a federal workplace safety investigation found.

WESTBURY, NY – Federal workplace safety inspectors have cited a thermometer manufacturer for overexposing their employees to mercury at its West Babylon facility.

LAFAYETTE, GA – A 21-year-old line operator at a LaFayette, Georgia, insulation manufacturer suffered severe head trauma after being caught in a machine’s roller. A U.S. Department of Labor investigation determined that the employer willfully ignored federal workplace safety standards.

Participants:      U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational

                                  Safety and Health Administration

                                  American Society of Safety Professionals, East Texas Chapter

EL PASO, TX – A federal workplace safety investigation of an El Paso jewelry metal-plating finisher found the company again exposing workers to serious hazards, including willfully failing to protect people working with dangerous acids and other chemicals from potentially permanent eye injuries.