KANSAS CITY, Mo. ‒ The U.S.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – As residents recover from the damage caused by the recent tornadoes and severe storms in Missouri and Kansas, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration urges recovery workers, employers and the public to use caution during cleanup and recovery efforts. The agency urges all to be aware of hazards they may encounter, and steps needed to to stay safe and healthy.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.—Barr & Barr Inc., a construction management company, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have signed a strategic partnership to enhance workplace safety and health during the construction of Amherst College’s New Science Center.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a proposed delay in the effective date of the rule entitled Occupational Exposure to Beryllium, from March 21, 2017, to May 20, 2017.

Participants: U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration offices in Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, and Allied Construction Industries, a trade association representing more than 500 member companies.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – In less than 10 days in 2016, two employees at a Green Bay muffler component manufacturer suffered severe injuries as they operated machinery without adequate safety guards and procedures in place, federal workplace safety investigators have determined.

BOSTON – The National Railroad Passenger Corp., better known as Amtrak, retaliated against a supervisory special agent in its inspector general’s office when he raised concerns about railroad safety, fraud and abuse involving an Amtrak contractor and when he supported a fellow agent’s safety concerns during an internal investigation, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found.

COSHOCTON, Ohio – A follow-up inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found a casting and foundry facility operator continues to expose workers to machine and fall hazards at its Coshocton plant.

On Jan. 17, 2017, the agency issued SanCasT Inc. three repeated, and four serious safety violations carrying proposed penalties of $235,879. The agency cited the company for similar violations in both 2013 and 2014.

Employer name: County Concrete Corp.                                 

Inspection site: 64 Glenwood Pl.
East Orange, New Jersey

Citations issued: On Jan. 4, 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for one repeat and two failure-to-abate violations.

Employer name: BHC Northwest Psychiatric Hospital LLC, doing business as Brooke Glen Behavioral Hospital

Inspection site: 7170 Lafayette Ave.
Fort Washington, Pennsylvania

Citations issued: On Jan. 11, 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for four serious violations.

BRAINTREE, Mass. – A Bellingham used auto parts business’ failure to follow required workplace safety standards allowed an employee to suffer fatal head injuries, an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found.

KINGSTON, Okla. – A complaint of unsafe working conditions led U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors to discover the safety and health of employees at a well-known Oklahoma truck bed fabricator being placed at risk amid nearly two dozen safety and health violations.

OSHA’s investigation at BigTex Trailer Manufacturing Inc., which does business as CM Truck Beds, found 20 serious violations, one willful and three repeated violations – prompting the agency to propose $535,411 in fines. 

CHICAGO, Ill. ‒ Federal safety inspectors saw seven employees of a Park Ridge contractor performing masonry work on a Chicago building at heights up to 40 feet without adequate fall protection and have issued citations to the company. The company committed similar violations in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015.

Employer name: Kempf Construction Inc.
Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Citations issued: Jan. 9, 2017

TAMPA, Fla. – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit against Jasper Roofing Contractors Inc. and its owner/chief executive officer, Brian Wedding, for terminating their safety manager after he cooperated with a safety and health inspection by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The suit results from an investigation by OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program.

Employer name: Redhawk Roofing Inc.
Libertyville, Illinois 60048

Inspection site: 865 Gordon Terrace
Winnetka, Illinois 60093

Citations issued: Dec. 16, 2016

VERONA, N.J. – Acting on a complaint in June 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found employees of one of the area’s largest general contractors working in an unprotected 10-foot deep excavation at a suburban New Jersey high school, in violation of federal safety and health laws.

WASHINGTON – A new rule issued today by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration dramatically lowers workplace exposure to beryllium, a strategically important material that can cause devastating lung diseases. The new beryllium standards for general industry, construction and shipyards will require employers to take additional, practical measures to protect an estimated 62,000 workers from these serious risks.

Employer name: Nemo Plastics Inc.

Inspection site: 1425 Candler Road
Gainesville, Georgia 30507

Citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to Nemo Plastics for 21 serious and three other-than-serious safety and health violations. The inspection was initiated after the agency received a complaint.

FAIRMONT, W.Va. – When a co-worker severed part of his thumb in July 2014, a food processor at a beef jerky manufacturing plant acted quickly, helping him apply pressure to the wound and using her cellphone to call 911. Before responders could answer, the company’s owner ordered her to hang up. Two days later, she was terminated.