OSHA cites Transition of Superior Systems for 25 serious violations; fines total $51,600

LUBBOCK, Texas — Working at an industrial facility is dangerous. An employer who ignores serious hazards and puts workers in harm's way threatens everyone's well-being, a point not lost on U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators who identified 25 serious safety and health violations after a July 2014 inspection at Transition of Superior Systems in Merkel. Fines totaled $51,600.

LUCASVILLE, Ohio — Faced one night with a trip over mountainous terrain in a medical transport helicopter with a faulty emergency locator transmitter, a pilot refused to fly the unsafe aircraft and was later terminated in retaliation for doing so. An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration followed. As a result, Air Methods Corp. was ordered to reinstate the pilot, pay $158,000 in back wages and $8,500 in damages, and remove disciplinary information from the employee's personnel record.

Date of Action: Dec. 17, 2014

Type of Action: Complaint

Name(s) of Defendant(s): Bryan M. Johns and Rainwire Partners Inc. 401(k) Plan

Date of Action: Dec. 31, 2014

Type of Action: Complaint

Names of Defendants: The Children’s Place Inc., The Children’s Place Inc. Welfare Benefit Plan and Hendrik Johannes Lamprecht based in Bradenton, Florida.

Date of Action: Jan. 6, 2015

Type of Action: Consent judgment

Name of Defendant: David E. Doll

Allegations: Based on an investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefit Security Administration, the Secretary of Labor filed a complaint on Dec. 30, 2013 alleging:

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit with the Office of Administrative Law Judges against LRE Royal Electrical Contractors Inc. and its owner, George E. Smith, to recover $345,077 in back wages for 61 electrical workers. The action also seeks to prevent the company and Smith from obtaining federal contracts for three years.

PEKIN, Ill. — A 37-year-old worker at Agridyne's Pekin facility climbed down into a rail car to clean out corn steep residue and was overcome by dangerous hydrogen sulfide gas. A 29-year-old tank inspector, who attempted to rescue the first worker, succumbed to the gas exposure as well. Neither worker made it out of the car alive.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. —— Dollar General store employees in Wolcott could not exit the store swiftly during a fire or emergency because of a locked emergency door in the store's back room, an Oct. 24, 2014, inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found. In 2010, OSHA cited the retail chain for the same hazard at a store in Buffalo.

DALTON, Ga. — An MFG Chemical Inc. worker died after hazardous chemical vapors released from an overpressurized reactor burned his respiratory system. A second employee was treated at a hospital and released. A July 2014 inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration resulted in citations for MFG for 17 safety and health violations. OSHA initiated the inspection after a media referral alleged that a chemical release at the manufacturing facility had occurred.

CHANNAHON, Ill. — For the third time in two years, a chemical tank cleaning service has exposed workers cleaning portable tank wagons to dangerous confined space hazards. Responding to a complaint, U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors found seven repeated and two serious violations at Dedicated TCS LLC's Channahon site. OSHA has proposed penalties of $79,464.

Date of Action: Dec. 23, 2014

Type of Action: Complaint

Names of Defendants: Mattie Kon and Blitz Systems Inc. 401(k) Plan.

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration resulted in the department filing a suit in federal court alleging violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act:

Date of Action: Jan. 5, 2015

Type of Action: Consent Order and Judgment

Names of Defendants: Cargill Heating & Air Conditioning Co., Inc., Michael Earl Galstad, and Cargill Heating & Air Conditioning Co., Inc. Savings Plan in La Crosse, Wis.

Allegations: The U.S. Department of Labor filed a lawsuit on March 25, 2014, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, alleging violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by the defendants.

MONROEVILLE, N.J. — Cassaday Farms LLC has agreed to pay a total of $117,130 in back wages and $57,870 in civil money penalties to settle charges leveled by the U.S. Department of Labor that the business unlawfully rejected 13 qualified U.S. workers, who applied for seasonal employment, and showed preferential treatment to H-2A workers, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Company fails to provide fall protection on job site

OSHA fines company more than $170K for willfully putting employees at risk

ST. MARYS, Ohio — Three employees were exposed to dangerous levels of lead, arsenic, iron oxide and copper particles and fumes while torch-cutting steel at a scrapyard operated by OmniSource St. Marys. Their employer, CS Metals Inc., did not provide required personal protective equipment or health monitoring, a June 2014 investigation by the U.S.