Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, DOL NEWS—$602K penalty proposed after Ohio worker dies; US-Mexican labor dispute resolved, (Jul 25, 2025)

By Jonathan Anderson

A New Jersey employer also agreed to pay $155,000 for repeatedly exposing workers to fall and safety hazards.

After an employee died at an Ohio workplace, OSHA cited the employer for exposing workers to safety hazards with $602,938 in proposed penalties. In an unrelated development, a New Jersey roofing contractor agreed to pay $155,000 to resolve four willful and seven serious violations for repeatedly exposing workers to fall and safety hazards. The DOL’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs also announced resolution of a petition brought by a Mexican labor union under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Rapid Response Labor Mechanism.

Worker fatality. OSHA cited Clean Harbors Environmental Services Inc. for exposing workers to safety hazards at a customer’s facility in Twinsburg, Ohio, with $602,938 in proposed penalties for three willful violations.

A DOL investigation found that the Massachusetts-based environmental and hazardous waste management service provider failed to properly ventilate a confined space containing organic chemical residue resulting in a worker fatality. OSHA determined the employer failed to implement legally mandated permit-required space entry requirements. Specifically, OSHA found that the employer failed to ventilate, test the environment, and use non-entry rescue equipment, including a tripod, mechanical winch, and full-body retrieval harness.

The employer has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalty to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC).

Fall, safety hazards. In an unrelated development, RRC Home Improvement Inc. will pay a $155,000 penalty to resolve four willful and seven serious violations for repeatedly exposing workers to fall and safety hazards at two worksites in New Jersey, OSHA said.

The federal agency initially investigated RRC in June 2024 at a worksite in Dover, New Jersey, after receiving reports of employees working on a roof without fall protection. In July 2024, investigations began at the roofing contractor’s worksites in Lodi as part of OSHA’s National Emphasis Program for Falls in Construction; inspectors again observed employees working without required fall protection. OSHA said it also uncovered violations involving lack of hard hats, eye protection, and fire extinguishers, as well as non-compliant pump jack scaffold poles and unsafe ladder use.

In addition to the monetary relief, the company agreed to implement enhanced abatement measures, including reporting all jobsites to OSHA before commencing work and providing OSHA with a written site-specific fall protection plan for the worksite, including certification that all employees have completed a fall protection training course.

US-Mexican labor dispute. The DOL’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs announced resolution of a USMCA Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) matter at the Modern Metal Alloys, S.A. de C.V. (MMA) facility in Querétaro, Mexico.

On March 17, 2025, the Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement (ILC) received an RRM petition from a Mexican labor union alleging that MMA had violated workers’ rights. DOL attachés visited Querétaro to conduct interviews with the company, workers, and the union, and collect additional case evidence that was used in the ILC’s analysis of the claims alleged in the petition. The ILC determined that there was sufficient, credible evidence of a denial of rights enabling the good faith invocation of enforcement mechanisms.

On April 16, 2025, the United States Trade Representative submitted a request to Mexico to review the matter. Mexico accepted the request and found that the company had taken the remedial steps necessary to address the alleged denials of rights related to freedom of association and collective bargaining. The United States subsequently engaged in further negotiation with MMA, after which MMA agreed to take additional remedial actions.

The United States has resumed liquidation of tariffs on goods from the MMA facility, which manufactures aluminum for the production of auto parts.

Companies: Clean Harbors Environmental Services Inc.; RRC Home Improvement Inc.; Modern Metal Alloys, S.A. de C.V.

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