December 22, 2014

OSHA News Release: OSHA cites Robertson Incorporated Bridge and Grading Division after 16-year-old laborer dies at Delta, Missouri, construction site [12/22/2014]

DELTA, Mo. — A 16-year-old laborer was fatally struck by the swinging cab and boom of a crane being disassembled by Robertson Incorporated Bridge and Grading Division at a construction site in Delta on June 18, 2014. A U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation found the crane operator was unaware that the teen was directed to stand in an inadequately marked danger zone. The teen also was not provided required protective headgear.

December 22, 2014

ILAB News Release: World Vision receives $10M US Labor Department grant to combat exploitative child labor in Ethiopia [12/22/2014]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs today announced the award of a $10 million cooperative agreement with World Vision to implement a project to address exploitative labor among youth in Ethiopia.

December 22, 2014

ILAB News Release: Funds to help build the capacity of labor inspectorates in Peru and the Philippines announced by US Labor Department [12/22/2014]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs today announced two grants to help strengthen workers' rights in Peru and the Philippines through technical assistance projects to build capacity at the labor inspectorates in those countries.

December 19, 2014

EBSA News Release: Obama administration publishes proposed rule on excepted benefits [12/19/2014]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury are seeking public comment on proposed rules that would amend the definition of excepted benefits to include certain limited wraparound coverage.

December 18, 2014

WHD News Brief: Maine flooring contractor paying $52K in back wages to 42 underpaid employees [12/18/2014]

Employer name: Paul G. White Tile Co., 444 Riverside Industrial Park, Portland, Maine 04107

Investigation findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found that the company, which advertises itself as the leading flooring contractor in Maine and one of the largest in New England, underpaid 42 employees a total of $52,000.

December 18, 2014

WHD News Release: US Labor Department extends building and heavy construction wage survey in Maine [12/18/2014]

PHILADELPHIA — The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division announced today that it would extend the completion date to April 30, 2015, for an ongoing building and heavy construction wage survey sent to contractors and others. The survey will collect data on wages paid to laborers and mechanics on building and heavy construction projects in Maine between April 1, 2013, and March 31, 2014.

December 18, 2014

OSHA News Release: OSHA cites Basic Grain Products after 2 workers injured at Coldwater, Ohio, rice-cake plant [12/18/2014]

COLDWATER, Ohio — In response to a complaint of an electrical shock injury, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that a 20-year employee was injured while he performed service work on an electrical panel at a Coldwater rice-cake manufacturer. Following the investigation, OSHA has cited Basic Grain Products Inc. for two repeated and five serious safety violations.

December 18, 2014

OSHA News Release: M. Durrance Construction of Jacksonville, Florida, cited for willfully exposing workers to dangerous falls [12/18/2014]

ORANGE PARK, Fla. — M. Durrance Construction Inc. of Jacksonville was cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for exposing workers to dangerous falls during framing work at a residence on Hawthorn Way in Orange Park. The October 2014 inspection was initiated as part of the agency's Regional Emphasis Program on Falls in Construction.

December 18, 2014

OSHA News Release: OSHA investigation finds workers exposed to lead, copper fumes at Republic Metals in Cleveland [12/18/2014]

CLEVELAND — A complaint that alleged unsafe work conditions at Republic Metals Inc. resulted in U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors uncovering dangerous levels of lead and copper fumes. The investigation found that the company failed to implement engineering controls and maintain areas free of lead dust and accumulation. The Aug.

December 17, 2014

WHD News Release: US Labor Department extends building and heavy construction wage survey in Florida [12/17/2014]

ATLANTA — The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division announced today that it would extend the completion date to May 29, 2015, for an ongoing building and heavy construction wage survey sent to contractors and others. The survey will collect data on wages paid to laborers and mechanics on building and heavy construction projects in Florida between April 1, 2013, and March 31, 2014.

December 17, 2014

WHD News Release: Florida's hotel and motel industry is rife with labor violations [12/17/2014]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida hotel and motel workers struggle to live on low wages and often lack critical benefits like sick leave. Their lives are made harder when their employer refuses to pay them for all hours worked or for overtime premiums when employees' hours exceed 40 hours in a week. To combat the situation, the Jacksonville District Office of the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division mounted an enforcement initiative in 2013 to investigate hotels, motels and temporary staffing agencies.

December 17, 2014

WHD News Release: US Labor Department extends building and heavy construction wage survey in Massachusetts [12/17/2014]

PHILADELPHIA — The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division announced today that it would extend the completion date to May 29, 2015, for an ongoing building and heavy construction wage survey sent to contractors and others. The survey will collect data on wages paid to laborers and mechanics on building and heavy construction projects in Massachusetts between June 1, 2013, and May 31, 2014.

December 17, 2014

OSHA News Release: Formed Fiber Technologies ignores violations and exposes workers to dangerous machinery and risk of serious injury [12/17/2014]

SIDNEY, Ohio — For the third time since October 2013, Formed Fiber Technologies LLC has been cited for putting workers at risk of amputation and other serious injury by exposing them to dangerous, moving machine parts. The Sidney facility produces motor vehicle interior trimmings for Toyota Motor Corp., General Motors Co. and other manufacturers and was cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration in 2013 and twice in 2014.

December 17, 2014

OSHA News Release: OSHA cites Dollar Tree Stores for exposing workers to serious hazards for second time in Delaware [12/17/2014]

NEW CASTLE, Del. — North American discount chain Dollar Tree Stores Inc. has been cited for the second time in Delaware since late 2013 by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration after inspectors saw an employee struck by falling boxes during a visit to its New Castle store in June 2014. For willfully and repeatedly exposing workers to serious hazards there, OSHA has proposed penalties totaling $103,000.

December 17, 2014

OSHA News Release: Death of Brooklyn, New York, supermarket worker preventable, OSHA finds [12/17/2014]

NEW YORK — A 22-year-old employee of Moisha's Kosher Discount Supermarket Inc. in Brooklyn was fatally crushed between a cement wall and a forklift on June 10, 2014, as employees used an electrical pallet jack to push a broken forklift up a ramp to the supermarket's roof. While doing so, the forklift rolled back down the ramp, and then pinned the worker against the wall. An inspection by the U.S.

December 17, 2014

OSHA News Release: Worker fatally struck by car at meat processing plant in San Antonio [12/17/2014]

SAN ANTONIO — Raul Saucedo, who had not been provided with high-visibility clothing by his employer, was fatally struck by a car while cleaning outside the Surlean Foods facility, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found.

December 16, 2014

WHD News Release: Uncle Bear's Grill & Bar in Phoenix will pay employees more than $115K in overtime back wages [12/16/2014]

PHOENIX — Uncle Bear's Grill & Bar eateries will pay a total of $115,252 in overtime back wages to 54 employees after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division. The investigation included locations in Chandler, Mesa, Phoenix, Queen Creek and Surprise.

December 16, 2014

WHD News Release: US Labor Department lawsuit alleges hotel owner owes $200K in wages, damages to 192 workers at 13 hotels [12/16/2014]

FARGO, N.D. — The U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Attorney for the District of North Dakota sued Bharat I. Patel and alleged his failure to pay 192 workers minimum wage and/or overtime rates at 13 hotels he owns in North Dakota and Montana. An investigation by the Wage and Hour Division found approximately $100,000 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages owed to front-desk clerks, housekeeping staff and other hotel employees.

December 16, 2014

OSHA News Release: OSHA cites Budweiser distribution center for serious safety violations [12/16/2014]

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — A distribution warehouse for beverage manufacturer Anheuser-Busch InBev SA, makers of Budweiser, Bud Light and Corona beer, willfully put workers at risk of serious injury. Doing business as Anheuser-Busch Sales of New Jersey, the company exposed permanent and temporary workers to hazards that involved powered industrial trucks and other dangers at its Jersey City facility, an investigation on June 4, 2014, by the U.S.

December 16, 2014

OSHA News Release: Eaton Corp. cited for employee's heat-related kidney failure at Kearney, Nebraska, automotive manufacturing plant [12/16/2014]

KEARNEY, Neb. — A dehydrated 53-year-old Eaton Corp. employee suffered acute kidney failure while working in extreme indoor heat at the company's automotive manufacturing plant. The employee, who worked at the facility for 20 years, operated industrial machinery at the Kearney plant on July 11, 2014, when the heat index soared to 101 degrees. The worker later recovered after being hospitalized for more than 24 hours to treat the illness.