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Department of Labor alleges subcontractor knowingly exposed employees to asbestos hazards during former Waukegan hospital demolition

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Department of Labor alleges subcontractor knowingly exposed employees to asbestos hazards during former Waukegan hospital demolition WAUKEGAN, IL – Alleging that K.L.F. Enterprises — a Chicago demolition subcontractor — knew it was exposing its employees and others to the serious dangers of asbestos at a Waukegan work site, the U.S. Department of Labor has cited the company for 36 safety and health violations after a federal investigation. In November 2023, investigators with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration opened a complaint inspection after they observed K.L.F. employees not wearing protective equipment amid piles of debris and steel I-beams during structural demolition of the eight-story former Lakes Behavioral Health hospital. OSHA determined that K.L.F. continued demolition activities — disturbing and removing asbestos used to fireproof the building’s interior — despite recognizing the debris piles outside were likely asbestos-laden. The company did
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US Department of Labor investigation of 29-year-old worker’s drowning finds Key Largo marine construction company failed to follow federal safety requirements

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US Department of Labor investigation of 29-year-old worker’s drowning finds Key Largo marine construction company failed to follow federal safety requirements KEY LARGO, FL – A 29-year-old employee of a Florida marine construction company drowned in five feet of water after being pinned under a fallen crane in March 2023. Federal workplace safety investigators determined the company could have prevented the fatality by following required safety standards.Employees of Upper Keys Marine Construction LLC were installing a piling foundation for a residential boat lift when the crane tipped over and fell into the water. The employee, who was inappropriately tasked to ride the load of the crane, became pinned under the crane’s hammer and drowned. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found the company violated federal safety standards when they:Permitted workers to conduct pile-driving operations from a boat dock without approved buoyant vests. Failed
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Department of Labor awards $5M to train, expand pathways for women for Registered Apprenticeships, nontraditional occupations

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Department of Labor awards $5M to train, expand pathways for women for Registered Apprenticeships, nontraditional occupations WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $5 million to organizations in seven states to increase the numbers of women in Registered Apprenticeship programs and help connect them with good-paying careers in nontraditional occupations where the Biden-Harris administration’s historic infrastructure, manufacturing and clean energy investments are creating sharp job increases. The announcement of the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations grants was made at AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington. Department leaders joined AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler to showcase the work of the labor organization’s Working for America Institute in Birmingham, Alabama. The institute received a $713,892 grant to support its pre-apprenticeship program’s effort to recruit women of color in the region.“To fulfill the promise of President Biden’s
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Contractor enters into deferred prosecution agreement, agrees to pay $370K for willful safety failures in employee’s 2019 fatal fall in St. Joseph

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Contractor enters into deferred prosecution agreement, agrees to pay $370K for willful safety failures in employee’s 2019 fatal fall in St. Joseph KANSAS CITY, MO – An Oklahoma construction contractor entered into a deferred prosecution agreement and agreed to pay $370,680 in criminal and civil penalties to avoid federal prosecution on one count of ignoring federal safety regulations that resulted in a worker fatality in St. Joseph in 2019.The action follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration that found Skinner Tank Co. did not require employees to use fall protection while working on the roof of the 56-foot soybean storage tank, nor provide fall protection training. On Oct. 14, 2019, an employee on the roof died after falling more than 50 feet to the ground. OSHA’s inspection also revealed that the company provided inaccurate safety information to its employees by telling them that wearing fall protection actually presente
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Department of Labor cites Irvington contractor who exposed roofing workers to fall dangers, other hazards at Hasbrouck Heights work site

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Department of Labor cites Irvington contractor who exposed roofing workers to fall dangers, other hazards at Hasbrouck Heights work site IRVINGTON, NJ – Federal workplace safety inspectors have cited an Irvington contractor who exposed employees to potentially deadly falls by allowing them to do roofing work atop a two-story home in Bergen County without required fall protection in March 2023. U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors opened an investigation after observing employees of JM Brother Construction LLC working at heights up to 23 feet with no adequate fall protection system in place in Hasbrouck Heights. In addition to the fall hazards, OSHA determined the company exposed workers to struck-by hazards by allowing them to ride without seat belts in an area of the company’s cargo vans not intended for passengers. The company also failed to protect employees from head impact injuries and allowed employees to use a ladder unsafely.The a
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Department of Labor announces enforcement, compliance initiative to protect workers from silica exposure in engineered stone fabrication, installation

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Department of Labor announces enforcement, compliance initiative to protect workers from silica exposure in engineered stone fabrication, installation WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration today launched a new initiative focused on enhancing enforcement and providing compliance assistance to protect workers in the engineered stone fabrication and installation industries.“Many workers in the engineered stone industry are experiencing illnesses so severe that they’re unable to breathe — much less work a full shift — because of their exposure to silica dust,” explained Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker. “Among them is a 27-year-old worker in California who went to an emergency room with shortness of breath in 2022 and whose lung biopsy later revealed he had silicosis. Since then, he has been on an oxygen tank and unable to support his wife and three young children financially.”Supplement
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US Department of Labor investigation of 28-year-old worker’s fatal fall finds Miami Gardens roofing contractor failed to follow safety requirements

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US Department of Labor investigation of 28-year-old worker’s fatal fall finds Miami Gardens roofing contractor failed to follow safety requirements MIAMI GARDENS, FL – A federal workplace safety and health investigation has determined a Hialeah roofing contractor could have prevented a 28-year-old employee’s fatal injuries after a 40-foot fall through a commercial roof to a concrete surface below in Miami Gardens in March 2023 by following federal safety standards.Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration responded to the site and learned that, as five employees of Sealed Tight Roofing Inc. worked to replace the roof, one fell through a section of the existing roof that collapsed as the worker was moving a debris-filled wheelbarrow. The worker was transported to a hospital but later died. OSHA determined Sealed Tight Roofing Inc., operating as Oceans Roofing & Waterproofing Corp., exposed employees to fall hazards up to 40 feet
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US Department of Labor recovers more than $947K from Oregon federal contractors who denied full wages, benefits to 213 construction workers

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US Department of Labor recovers more than $947K from Oregon federal contractors who denied full wages, benefits to 213 construction workers PORTLAND – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $947,547 from four Oregon contractors who failed to pay fringe benefits, prevailing and overtime wages to 213 employees working on federally funded construction projects in Oregon and Washington. The recovery follows several investigations by the department’s Wage and Hour Division and the discovery of violations of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act.Specifically, federal investigators found the following:G Builders LLC, a Damascus wood framing company, classified employees incorrectly and failed to pay them the appropriate prevailing wages and fringe benefits for the type of work they did while building affordable housing units at U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-funded projects in Gresham and Euge
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