US Department of Labor to honor workers whose jobs claimed their lives, recommit to protecting workers as nation marks Workers Memorial Day WASHINGTON – When the nation first observed Workers Memorial Day on April 28, 1970, an estimated 38 U.S. workers suffered fatal on-the-job injuries each day and many more endured debilitating respiratory diseases and other life-altering illnesses related to workplace exposures. Today, work-related injuries in the U.S. claim about 15 people’s lives a day. In 2022, a reported 5,486 workers suffered fatal injuries, an increase of 296 worker deaths from 2021. This year, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Mine Safety and Health Administration will remind the nation of the importance of protecting workers as families, friends, co-workers and the community at-large gather across the country for Workers Memorial Day events on Sunday, April 28 to honor people who didn’t come home at the end of their shift.“As we honor our fallen workers on Workers Memorial Day, we must remember that behind each workplace fatality there are loved ones enduring unimaginable grief,” said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker. “It is for the lost workers and those left behind that we continue to fight for every worker’s right to a safe working environment. Our mission at OSHA is to ensure that when someone leaves for work, they know they’ll come home safe at the end of the day to the arms of their families and loved ones.”To commemorate Workers Memorial Day, the department will host a week-long series of events from April 22-25 to educate employers on the importance of safe and healthy workplaces. The series will culminate at an in-person and nationally livestreamed event at 1 p.m. EDT at its Washington headquarters where OSHA and MSHA leaders will join AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and United Support & Memorial for Workplace Fatalities Board Member Stacy Sebold, whose 19-year-old son Mitchell McDaniel suffered fatally injuries in an agriculture incident in 2019.“We come together on Workers Memorial Day to remember those we have lost in workplace accidents and to prevent work-related illnesses,” said Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health Chris Williamson. “At MSHA, we know a safe workplace isn’t a privilege – it’s every miner’s right. It is in the memory of fallen workers that we continue to advocate for each miner’s safety, health and dignity.”Join OSHA and MSHA representatives, families, workers, labor unions, advocates and others to remember the lives lost and raise awareness of workplace safety to help prevent future tragedies. Find a local Workers Memorial Day event.Learn more about Workers Memorial Day events nationwide and view the April 25 livestream. 
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Court appoints independent fiduciary to distribute $597K from abandoned profit-sharing plan to employees of defunct Delaware County mushroom farm Date of action:           April 15, 2024Type of action:          Consent judgment and order  Court:                            U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Defendants:               Joseph Silvestri & Son Inc., Donna M. Fecondo and Joseph Silvestri & Son Inc. Profit-Sharing Plan          Background: An investigation by the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration identified Employee Retirement Income Security Act violations by Joseph Silvestri & Son Inc. and owner Donna Fecondo who, as fiduciaries of the company’s profit-sharing plan — a company-sponsored plan that offered employee retirement benefits to participants and beneficiaries — failed to discharge their duties and terminate the plan since 2019 after the company’s mushroom farm in Garnet Valley ceased operations. EBSA found the fiduciaries and Fecondo, a plan fiduciary and trustee, failed to ensure distribution of $597,351 in plan assets to 67 participants and beneficiaries or retain a fiduciary to manage the plan and oversee distribution. Without oversight or control by responsible fiduciaries with the authority to operate and manage it, the plan is designated as an abandoned plan.On Jan. 13, 2022, Fecondo was indicted on two counts of failure to collect and pay employment taxes and four counts of failure to file tax returns. The indictment alleged that, Fecondo did not file tax returns in multiple years, and failed to remit taxes relating to the company and its employees. Fecondo later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 46 months of incarceration and ordered to pay nearly $600,000 in restitution. On EBSA’s behalf, the department’s Office of the Regional Solicitor in Philadelphia negotiated a consent judgment — executed March 4, 2024 — to resolve the ERISA violations. On April 4, 2024, the department filed a complaint in U.S. District Court against the company, Fecondo and the company’s profit-sharing plan. Shortly thereafter, the department moved for entry of the consent judgment, which the court granted. Relief: Under the consent judgment, the court removed the plan’s current fiduciaries, permanently barred them from serving as fiduciaries to any ERISA-covered plan in the future and appointed AMI Benefit Plan Administrators Inc. as the independent fiduciary to distribute the assets and terminate the plans. As part of the judgment, Fecondo agreed to forfeit her individual plan account to satisfy the order of restitution entered in her criminal matter.Quotes: “The law requires fiduciaries to discharge their duties solely in the best interest of plan participants and beneficiaries in a prudent manner. When this does not happen, the Department of Labor will use all available tools to hold them legally accountable,” said Acting Regional Solicitor of Labor Samantha Thomas in Philadelphia. “The department is determined to protect the assets of employee benefit plans and to hold fiduciaries responsible when they abandon plans and fail to protect assets,” said EBSA Regional Director Cristina O’Brien in Philadelphia. Julie A. Su, Acting Secretary of Labor, U.S. Department of Labor v. Joseph Silvestri & Son. Inc., Donna M. Fecondo and Joseph Silvestri & Son Inc. Profit Sharing Plan Civil Case No. 2:24-cv-01414
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Department of Labor issues final rule reducing silica dust exposure, better protecting miners’ health from irreversible workplace illnesses WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Mine Safety and Health Administration has issued a final rule to better protect the nation’s miners from health hazards associated with exposure to respirable crystalline silica, also known as silica dust or quartz dust.  The final rule lowers the permissible exposure limit of respirable crystalline silica to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air for a full-shift exposure, calculated as an 8-hour time-weighted average. If a miner’s exposure exceeds the limit, the final rule requires mine operators to take immediate corrective actions to come into compliance.“It is unconscionable that our nation’s miners have worked without adequate protection from silica dust despite it being a known health hazard for decades,” said Acting Secretary Julie Su. “Today, the Department of Labor has taken an important action to finally reduce miners’ exposure to toxic silica dust and protect them from suffering from preventable diseases. Mining communities across the country should know that the Biden-Harris administration is determined to do what must be done to ensure that miners come home safe and healthy at the end of every day.”In addition to reducing exposure limits, the final rule does the following:Requires mine operators to use engineering controls to prevent miners’ overexposures to silica dust and use dust samplings and environmental evaluations to monitor exposures. Compels metal and nonmetal mine operators to establish medical surveillance programs to provide periodic health examinations at no cost to miners. The exams are similar to the medical surveillance programs available to coal miners under existing standards. Replaces an outdated standard for respiratory protection with a new standard reflecting the latest advances in respiratory protection and practices. This update will better protect miners against airborne hazards, including silica dust, diesel particulate matter, asbestos and other contaminants. “This rule reducing miners’ exposures to toxic silica dust has been a long time in the making, and the nation’s miners deserve its health protections,” said Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health Chris Williamson. “Congress gave MSHA the authority to regulate toxic substances to protect miners from health hazards and made clear in the Mine Act that miners’ health and safety must always be our first priority and concern. To further advance this directive, MSHA is committed to working together with everyone in the mining community to implement this rule successfully. No miner should ever have to sacrifice their health or lungs to provide for their family.”Inhalation of respirable crystalline silica, a carcinogen, can cause serious lung and other diseases, such as silicosis, lung cancer, progressive massive fibrosis, chronic bronchitis and kidney disease. Exposure to mixed coal mine dust containing respirable crystalline silica can lead to the development of black lung disease and progressive massive fibrosis. These diseases are irreversible and can be fatal. They are also preventable. MSHA’s final rule will improve the health and safety of U.S. miners significantly. The rule will result in an estimated total of 1,067 lifetime avoided deaths and 3,746 lifetime avoided cases of silica-related illnesses.Read MSHA’s silica rule. Learn more about MSHA and the agency’s rulemaking efforts.Lea en Español 
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US Department of Labor finds employee fatally injured after manufacturer failed to protect her from caught-between, struck-by hazards FRANKLIN, OH ‒ An Ohio subsidiary of one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers could have prevented a 26-year-old employee in Franklin from being fatally crushed in October 2023 if the company had provided proper machine guarding. Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration responded after being informed of the incident by Faurecia Emissions Control Systems NA LLC, one of 29 facilities operated by Faurecia North America to manufacture components in the U.S. OSHA learned the worker, on the job for about a year, was placing cardboard under a machine that bends vehicle exhaust pipes when the incident happened.OSHA issued 10 instance-by-instance citations after finding the company did not properly train employees — including temporary workers under Faurecia’s control — in lockout/tagout procedures. OSHA also issued a machine guarding violation. Investigators determined the employer failed to include detailed steps for lockout/tagout procedures, test its safety procedures annually and guard machines adequately. Based on these alleged violations, Faurecia exposed machine operators to struck-by and caught-between hazards.In 2022, the agency cited the company for similar violations at the same location. The company faces $314,555 in proposed OSHA penalties for its recent infractions. “Faurecia Emissions Control Systems could have prevented this tragedy by having proper machine guarding that would have protected employees from contact with moving machine parts,” said OSHA Area Director Ken Montgomery in Cincinnati. “Safety requirements are just that, required. This company failed in its legal responsibility to ensure workers were protected from workplace hazards.” Since 2019, OSHA has opened nearly 1,700 Ohio inspections related to machine hazards. “Safety must never be an afterthought, Montgomery added. “Safety has to be a core company value, especially in the manufacturing industry.” Faurecia Emissions Control Systems NA LLC is part of Faurecia North America based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. In 2022, Faurecia and Hella combined to form Forvia, one of the world’s top 10 largest automotive suppliers with more than 150,000 workers in more than 40 countries.The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Learn more about OSHA, lockout/tagout procedures and the National Emphasis Program on Amputation Hazards.
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Remarks by Acting Secretary Su announcing final rule to reduce miners’ exposure to silica dust, improve health of nation’s miners UNIONTOWN, PA – Acting Secretary Julie Su today made the following remarks during an announcement of the department’s issuance of a final rule by its Mine Safety and Health Administration to reduce miners’ exposure to respirable crystalline silica dustAs prepared for delivery)“Thank you so much Dave, for that introduction and for sharing your story today. It’s great to be in Uniontown and I want to thank the United Mine Workers District 2 for hosting us. We are all gathered here today thanks to the leadership of the labor unions who represent miners and those working on mine sites — especially UMWA President Roberts, USW President David McCall and IUOE President James Callahan. And to President Cecil Roberts and the UMWA, I’m grateful for your ever-present leadership to pave the path to today, taking every opportunity to lift up the stories of miners and the protections they need to prevent occupational illnesses like silicosis and black lung. Of course, we are also grateful to the Building Trades for their partnership as well as to have PA AFL-CIO President Angela Ferritto and local CLC President Darrin Kelly here with us today. Your work as union leaders is lifting up and protecting all workers – union and non-union alike. Senators Casey and Fetterman have also been excellent partners in this work. Senator Casey especially has been leading this fight on behalf of the Commonwealth for decades. And we also have so many advocates from across the mining community — some of whom are here today —including Gary, Lynda, Debbie, Arvin, Billy, John and Sam. Today, we’re making it clear that no job should be a death sentence, and every worker has the right to come home healthy and safe at the end of the day. The stories that we will hear today from folks like Gary represent just a small fraction of miners who have had their lives upended by silica dust. In Central Appalachia, an estimated one in five long tenured coal miners have black lung disease. That’s one in five who struggle to get through a phone call or play with their grandkids without losing their breath. One in five whose life expectancy is cut down by an average of 12 years. One in five forced to carry this irreversible disease.And the trends are going in the wrong direction. Doctors are diagnosing and treating more miners with black lung and other respiratory diseases than ever before at younger and younger ages. For too long, we accepted this as just the way things are for people who work in mines. They’ve had to work without the same protections from silica dust that people in other industries have, even though we’ve known about the harms of silica dust since Frances Perkins was the Secretary of Labor! Not on our watch. President Biden put this rule on his regulatory agenda from day one of his administration. This is what it looks like to have the most pro-worker, pro-union President in history. This new rule will reduce exposure to toxic silica dust and reduce entirely preventable diseases. I couldn’t be more proud of our team’s work on this rule. I want to call out Chris Williamson and the whole MSHA team for their long nights and truly excellent work. Our final rule brings the permissible exposure limit for miners in line with the limit for workers in other industries. It includes safeguards for miners’ health like engineering controls and monitoring to prevent overexposure. The final rule requires metal and nonmetal mine operators to provide periodic health exams at absolutely no cost to the miners or their families — modeled after the longstanding program that is currently available to coal miners. And we are strengthening respiratory protection standards for miners against all airborne hazards — not just silica dust.Since I came to the Department of Labor, I have asked my team to unleash their full power to protect working people, to use all the tools we have not just to conduct inspections and issue citations but to keep workers truly safe and make sure workers are heard. Today, we are doing just that. We estimate that this final rule will save more than a thousand lives and prevent severe illness for thousands more. This means more moms and dads, sons and daughters, coming home safe and healthy at the end of every day right here in Uniontown. I know that for the families in this room, especially those who have lost loved ones to illnesses caused by their jobs like silicosis and black lung, this final rule is a long time coming. I am so honored to be here with you all as we take this long overdue step forward. This rule — as important and exciting as it is — is just one part of what we are doing to unleash the full power of the Department of Labor to protect miners’ safety and health. So much of our work doesn’t make big news, but it’s what is making a difference in communities across America, like this one. First, we have built MSHA back up — hiring 270 new inspectors after the cuts of the last administration — to keep miners healthy and safe. In addition to our regular inspections across the country, we’re conducting monthly impact inspections in higher-risk mines to identify and eliminate hazards that can cost miners their lives. We are educating miners and mine operators about how to prevent accidents through proper training and precautionary measures, including our Take Time Save Lives campaign. While any miner death is one too many, this year fatalities are down dramatically, and we continue to double down on what works. We are making sure coal and metal and nonmetal miners know and exercise their rights under the Mine Act. We created a Miner Safety and Health App so every miner can get real-time information right on their phones. We send out targeted safety and health alerts through the app. And just last month, we launched a new Health Resource Locator Tool that makes it easier for miners to access the health care they need. This administration is deeply committed to miners, their families, and this community. We see you. We hear you. And we have your back — not just today, but every day. Thank you.”  
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