January 6, 2015

OSHA News Release: Chemical cleanup workers still exposed to dangerous hazards [01/06/2015]

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.

January 5, 2015

US Labor Department files suit seeking removal of trustee and appointment of independent fiduciary for abandoned New York City 401(k) plan

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:

January 5, 2015

US Department of Labor obtains order requiring fiduciary to restore $80K to Cargill Heating & Air Conditioning Co., Inc. Savings Plan in La Crosse, Wis.

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.

January 5, 2015

WHD News Release: Monroeville, New Jersey, farm to pay $175,000 in back wages and penalties [01/05/2015]

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.

January 5, 2015

OSHA News Release: OSHA cites Piasa, Illinois, roofing company for worker fatality [01/05/2015]

Company fails to provide fall protection on job site

January 5, 2015

OSHA News Release: Hagerty Brothers Co. exposes workers to dangerous lead and copper dust in Peoria, Illinois [01/05/2015]

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

January 5, 2015

OSHA News Release: CS Metals exposes scrapyard workers to dangerous levels of lead, copper and arsenic fumes at St. Marys, Ohio, facility [01/05/2015]

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.

January 5, 2015

OSHA News Release: 'Severe violator' Domestic Casting endangers workers by ignoring prior OSHA violations at iron foundry [01/05/2015]

More than two dozen violations at Shippensburg site yield $152,912 in fines

January 5, 2015

OSHA News Release: Edgerton, Wisconsin, roofing company cited by OSHA for exposing workers to fallsthe leading cause of workplace fatalities
[01/05/2015]

EDGERTON, Wis. — Diaz Roofing LLC allowed four employees to reshingle a residential rooftop without required fall protection, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found. As a result, OSHA cited the roofing company for one willful and one serious safety violation with proposed penalties of $73,080. The company has been cited previously 11 times for lack of fall protection.

January 5, 2015

ODEP News Release: Disability employment advisory committee adds 17 public members [01/05/2015]

WASHINGTONU.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez today announced the 17 public members who will serve on the new Advisory Committee on Increasing Competitive Integrated Employment for Individuals with Disabilities, a key provision of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

January 5, 2015

MSHA News Release: MSHA: Coal mining deaths at historic low [01/05/2015]

ARLINGTON, Va. — Preliminary data released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration indicates that 40 miners died in work-related accidents at the nation's mines in 2014, two fewer than in the previous year.* Coal mining deaths dropped from 20 in 2013 to 16 in 2014, the lowest annual number of coal mining deaths ever recorded in the United States. The previous record low was 18 in 2009.

December 31, 2014

New Hampshire company faces $230,400 in OSHA fines [12/31/2014]

Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, temporary staffing company also receives fines

December 30, 2014

OSHA News Release: OSHA cites 6 Chicago-area companies for worker exposure to asbestos during repairs at Evanston, Illinois, school [12/30/2014]

EVANSTON, Ill. — Workers from six separate companies renovating Chute Middle School's cafeteria in Evanston were exposed to asbestos, lead and electrical hazards, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Illinois Department of Public Health has determined.

December 30, 2014

ETA News Release: Additional funding awarded for Lummi Nation fishermen affected by fishing industry layoffs in Washington State [12/30/2014]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an $882,032 National Emergency Grant supplemental award to provide continued employment-related services to approximately 630 workers affected by fishing industry layoffs in the Lummi Nation, a tribal government with more than 5,000 members in Bellingham, Wash.

December 30, 2014

ETA News Release: Additional funding awarded for Lummi Nation fishermen affected by fishing industry layoffs in Washington State [12/30/2014]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an $882,032 National Emergency Grant supplemental award to provide continued employment-related services to approximately 630 workers affected by fishing industry layoffs in the Lummi Nation, a tribal government with more than 5,000 members in Bellingham, Wash.

December 29, 2014

OSHA News Release: Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom fail to protect young workers from heat hazards and illness, OSHA finds [12/29/2014]

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Seasonally-employed workers, mostly teen employees, hired as outdoor and food stand staff at Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom, were exposed to heat hazards during their summer employment, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

December 29, 2014

OSHA News Release: Exposing workers to electrical shock and other hazards yields fines of $66,400 for Troy, Texas, manufacturer [12/29/2014]

TROY, Texas — Twice in 18 months, C & H Die Casting Inc. has exposed workers to safety hazards, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found, leading the agency to cite the Troy-based company for 15 serious safety and health standards violations with proposed penalties of $66,400.

December 29, 2014

MSHA News Release: MSHA announces results of its 16 November impact inspections [12/29/2014]

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 199 citations and 19 orders during special impact inspections conducted at 10 coal mines and six metal and nonmetal mines in November.