US Department of Labor, Missouri roofing contractor reach agreement after teen worker’s fatal fall in 2023

-
US Department of Labor, Missouri roofing contractor reach agreement after teen worker’s fatal fall in 2023 JAMESPORT, MO – The U.S. Department of Labor reached an agreement with Jamesport roofing contractor John Troyer after a federal investigation determined he violated federal laws, resulting in a teen worker’s fatal fall in March 2023.The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that Troyer, owner of Troyer Construction LLP which operates as Troyer Roofing & Coatings, failed to provide workers with required fall protection. A separate investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found he violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by employing minors illegally in roofing work from May 2022 to June 2023.Under the agreement, Troyer must pay $290,000, which includes $156,259 in OSHA penalties, $15,000 in child labor penalties, and $118,741 in criminal fines to the U.S. Department of Justice. The company will also enroll in...
Post a Comment

Department of Labor, Norfolk Southern Corp., Teamsters’ railway union enter agreement to enhance safety at East Palestine, Ohio, derailment site

-
Department of Labor, Norfolk Southern Corp., Teamsters’ railway union enter agreement to enhance safety at East Palestine, Ohio, derailment site
CLEVELAND – After several U.S. Department of Labor workplace safety and health investigations at the East Palestine, Ohio, site where a Norfolk Southern Corp. train derailed in February 2023, the train’s operator has entered into a settlement agreement with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division-International Brotherhood of Teamsters. On Feb. 2, 2023, the train derailment caused a 49 railcar pile-up, including 11 tank cars of hazardous chemicals. The chemicals ignited and the pile-up burned for several days. In response to a referral from the U.S. Department of Transportation, OSHA opened enforcement inspections on March 2, 2023, to assess the union’s concerns for the health of workers rebuilding tracks and conducting clean-up operations near the derailment site. Under terms of the settlement, Norfolk Southern agreed to do the following: Implement a medical surveillance program for all affected employees who worked at the derailment site. Provide union employees with 40-hours of Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response training for future derailments. Create a training program on lessons learned from the Ohio derailment. Pay penalties assessed by OSHA for four safety and health violations. “This agreement will improve the safety and health controls in place for Norfolk Southern employees who responded and help educate the rail operator’s employees on the lessons learned so they are prepared should another emergency occur,” explained OSHA Area Office Director Howard Eberts in Cleveland. “We are pleased by the collaborative safety and health efforts of Norfolk Southern Corp, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division and contractors from the clean-up site who have been working together on this site remediation.” OSHA will continue to work closely with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and other federal, state and local officials to protect workers’ safety and health as clean-up operations continue. OSHA’s investigations included personal and area air samplings for workers involved in site and water cleanup, including Norfolk Southern employees installing new railroad track at the site. The agency also opened enforcement inspections of CTEH, an environmental consulting firm, and two other companies on site for the cleanup — Specialized Professional Services of Washington, Pennsylvania and Hepaco Inc. of Charlotte, North Carolina — to investigate complaints about workers exposed to chemicals as they cleaned up nearby creeks where spills killed fish. OSHA issued a citation to Specialized Professional Services for inadequate control of the site and decontamination areas, which they immediately corrected. OSHA did not cite CTEH or Hepaco. OSHA also opened an inspection in response to reports employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention became ill after visiting area homes on March 6, 2023, but issued no citations. After completing its inspections, OSHA issued Norfolk Southern citations on Aug. 2, 2023, for four violations and proposed $49,111 in penalties. The violations primarily related to work conducted on Feb. 4, 2023, as crews constructed track panels and laid them out on the south tracks, west of the spill location. Norfolk Southern abated the hazards immediately. Specifically, OSHA issued citations to the company for the following: Not developing an emergency response plan that included clear lines of authority, communication and training, site security, adequate site control and decontamination areas. Failing to require workers to wear chemical resistant footwear when walking on contaminated soil. Allowing employees without respiratory protection to pour cement on potentially contaminated soil. Not training workers about hazardous chemicals. In addition to OSHA’s enforcement role, the agency joined the U.S. EPA and Ohio EPA in a unified command structure to oversee site clean-up since the derailment. OSHA has also worked with the Department of Transportation and its Federal Railroad Administration in a non-enforcement role since Feb. 20, 2023. Norfolk Southern Corp. and its subsidiaries operate about 19,300 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia, serving every major container port in the eastern U.S. with connections to other rail carriers. The company is a major transporter of industrial products, including agriculture, forest and consumer products, chemicals, and metals and construction materials, and is the largest rail shipper of auto products and metals in North America. Learn more about OSHA.

Published at August 08, 2023 at 05:00PM
Read more at https://dol.gov

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Phoenix drywall, painting contractor must pay more than $7.4M in wages, damages after deliberately denying overtime to over 1,400 employees

-
Phoenix drywall, painting contractor must pay more than $7.4M in wages, damages after deliberately denying overtime to over 1,400 employees PHOENIX – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment ordering two commonly owned Arizona drywall and painting companies to pay $7,450,000 in back wages and damages after investigators found the employers willfully denied overtime pay to more than 1,400 employees.The Jan. 15, 2025 judgment by the U.S. District Court of the District of Arizona follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that found Apodaca Wall Systems Inc. and Empire Wall Systems Inc. in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The companies, owned by Arnold Apodaca and his children Michael and Brittany Apodaca, attempted to evade payment of overtime wages by paying hourly employees with multiple checks at straight-time rates for all hours worked. They also used labor brokers to hire hourly workers who were paid in cash at st...
Read more

Settlement affirms willful OSHA violations, $215K penalties, against contractors for fall hazards at multiple New Jersey work sites

-
Settlement affirms willful OSHA violations, $215K penalties, against contractors for fall hazards at multiple New Jersey work sites HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, NJ – Two related North Jersey construction contractor companies – Primetime Construction LLC and its subsidiary Primetime Contractors LLC of Paterson – have agreed to pay $215,000 in penalties and undertake several significant safety measures to resolve numerous safety violations found at five Paterson construction worksites in 2021, as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor.The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration initially cited Primetime Contractors LLC for four willful violations that occurred in September 2021 after agency inspectors found the employer exposing workers to fall hazards by repeatedly failing to ensure construction site stairways at company worksites had handrails and stair rails, even after being counseled by OSHA about the relevant safety requirements. Primetime Contrac...
Read more

Department of Labor encourages construction industry employers, stakeholders to join 2024 National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls

-
Department of Labor encourages construction industry employers, stakeholders to join 2024 National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is encouraging construction industry employers and workers across the nation to take part in its 11th annual National Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction from May 6-10. The event focuses attention on preventing the industry’s leading cause of worker deaths.The national stand-down recommends employers and workers pause voluntarily during the workday for safety demonstrations, hazard recognition and fall prevention training, and “tool-box” talks about hazards, protective methods and their company’s safety policies, goals and expectations. This year, OSHA is partnering with Construction Safety Week, an organization of more than 70 national and global construction firms, to enlist employers in the U.S. to create the largest industry-wide cons...
Read more