Historic foundry faces nearly $1M in penalties after Department of Labor finds dozens of violations endangering workers in Syracuse

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Historic foundry faces nearly $1M in penalties after Department of Labor finds dozens of violations endangering workers in Syracuse NEW YORK ­­– Federal inspectors have found a Syracuse iron foundry, operating for more than 150 years, continued its pattern of violating federal regulations. The foundry has been cited for more than two dozen willful, repeat, serious and other violations.Inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Frazer & Jones LLC in October 2024 for exposing employees to the risks of fire and explosion, thermal and chemical burns, falls, and other hazards.In 2023, OSHA cited Frazer & Jones, operator of one of the nation’s largest ductile and malleable iron foundries, for two serious violations. In 2021, the company reached a settlement agreement with the department and agreed to correct 60 violations and pay $276,189 in penalties identified in a 2019 inspection.“Frazer & Jones’ troubling history of exp
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Department of Labor plans to restructure workplace safety, health regional operations strategically to protect workers

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Department of Labor plans to restructure workplace safety, health regional operations strategically to protect workers
WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor today announced strategic changes to the structure of its Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s regional operations designed to direct its resources effectively and make the agency more resilient. The changes include the creation of a new OSHA regional office in Birmingham, Alabama, overseeing agency operations in the state, and those in Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee as well as the Florida Panhandle. The Birmingham Region will address the area’s growing worker population and the hazardous work done by people employed in food processing, construction, heavy manufacturing and chemical processing.OSHA is also planning to merge Regions 9 and 10 into a new San Francisco Region to improve operations and reduce operating costs. As part of the changes, the agency will also rename its regions to associate them by geography, rather than its current practice of assigning numbers to regions. As such, the area OSHA calls Region 4 will be renamed the Atlanta Region with jurisdiction over Florida, excluding the Panhandle; Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. The current Region 6 will be renamed the Dallas Region and have jurisdiction over workplace safety issues in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. The composition of OSHA’s other regions will remain the same. When completed the agency will rename its regions as follows:Current regional assignmentNew regional designationRegion 1Boston RegionRegion 2New York City RegionRegion 3Philadelphia RegionRegion 4Atlanta RegionRegion 5Chicago RegionRegion 6Dallas RegionRegion 7Kansas City RegionRegion 8Colorado RegionRegions 9 and 10San Francisco Region Birmingham RegionView a map of OSHA’s new regional structure and boundaries.“The changes reflect the nation’s demographic and industrial changes since the passage of the OSH Act and will allow our professionals to better respond to the needs of all workers, including those historically underserved,” explained Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker. “With a stronger enforcement presence in the South and more consolidated state oversight and whistleblower presence in the West — an area dominated by states that operate their OSHA programs — we can direct our resources where they’re needed most.” OSHA plans to fully transition to its new regional structure later in fiscal year 2024. Once implemented, the agency’s regional maps and contact information online will be updated publicly. 

Published at May 08, 2024 at 05:00AM
Read more at https://dol.gov

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