WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $30 million grant competition to help expand employment opportunities for young people involved in the criminal justice system. The department will award approximately seven grants of up to $4.5 million. Grant recipients may be either rural or urban organizations.

Employer name: South Progress LLC

Inspection site: 221 Wisteria Way, Lot 5, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida 32459

Citations issued: Citations were issued to the employer on March 07.

WASHINGTON – In the first year of a new reporting requirement, employers notified the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration of more than 10,000 severe work-related injuries, creating the opportunity for the agency to work with employers to eliminate hazards and protect other workers.

In the week ending March 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 265,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 1,000 from 259,000 to 258,000. The 4-week moving average was 268,000, an increase of 750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 250 from 267,500 to 267,250.

OMAHA, Neb. – Nebraska workers in the meat processing industry are more likely to be injured on the job, than many others employed in the Husker state. The higher-than-average rate has led the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration to launch a new Local Emphasis Program in the meat processing industry. 

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Walmart continues to endanger the safety and health of its employees despite a 2013 corporate-wide settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration to improve safety and health conditions at all of its store locations.

Date of Action: March 10, 2016

Type of Action: The U.S. Department of Labor filed a lawsuit against the following entities and individuals as fiduciaries to the Cactus Feeders Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan for causing the ESOP to pay tens of millions of dollars more than it should have paid for company stock:

HILLSBORO, Ohio – For a 26-year-old Ohio construction worker, his new job turned out to be his last. Just a month after starting work for Stauffer Site Services LLC, a nearly 10-foot deep trench collapsed and buried him as he worked installing a sewer line. The man died two days later due to the injuries he suffered.

Employer name: BCS Manufacturing LLC

Inspection site: 4215 Tholozan Ave., St. Louis, Missouri

Citations issued: March 11, 2016

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited BCS Manufacturing for 23 serious and three other-than-serious safety violations.

COLUMBUS, Wis. – Two to three seconds, that is how quickly flowing grain can trap a worker in a grain storage bin. Sixty seconds later, hundreds of pounds of grain can submerge and smother them. When it happens, more than half the time workers die by suffocation.

Federal safety investigators found workers faced with this and other dangers at Duffy Grain’s Columbus facility when they visited the site in September 2015. They observed workers at risk of being engulfed in grain and entangled by operating augers as they cleaned storage bins.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced $81 million in available funding through the National Farmworker Jobs Program to provide additional employment, training and housing assistance to migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families.

OMAHA, Neb. — Nebraska workers in the meat processing industry are more likely to be injured on the job, than many others employed in the Husker state. The higher-than-average rate has led the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration to launch a new Local Emphasis Program in the meat processing industry. 

Employer name: Toria’s Adult Living Facilities I & II, doing business as Toria’s Support Care Services Inc.

Investigation site: 3702 E. Osborne Ave., Tampa, Florida 33619

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Walmart continues to endanger the safety and health of its employees despite a 2013 corporate-wide settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration to improve safety and health conditions at all of its store locations.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the opening of a $338 million grant competition for national organizations to provide critical job training and related services to low-income, older American workers through the Senior Community Service Employment Program. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the opening of a $338 million grant competition for national organizations to provide critical job training and related services to low-income, older American workers through the Senior Community Service Employment Program. 

WESTBURY, NY — To make ice products at Arctic Glacier U.S.A. Inc.’s Hicksville plant, the company uses large amounts of anhydrous ammonia in the plant’s refrigeration system. When working with large amounts of hazardous chemicals such as ammonia, an employer must have a comprehensive and effective program in place for their safe management and the protection of its workers.

Date of Action: March 4, 2016

Name(s) of Defendants: Philadelphia Committee for the Prevention of Blindness

Type of Action: Fair Labor Standards Act Lawsuit Filing

Names of Defendants: Salsitas, Inc. doing business as Salsitas Mexican Restaurant & Cantina, and Oscar McBenttes

WASHINGTON — The Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, also known as the ERISA Advisory Council, will meet on March 16, 2016, at the U.S. Department of Labor’s headquarters at 200 Constitution Ave. NW, Room S-2508, Washington, D.C. 20210. The meeting will run from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. eastern.