Dive Brief:
- ConAgra Foods faces $117,000 in penalties after an inspection of its Columbus, Ohio, flour mill found 13 safety violations.
- Three of the 13 count as repeat violations, as ConAgra has been cited for similar problems at other facilities, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
- The Omaha-based food manufacturer has 15 days to decide if it wants to contest the findings.
Dive Insight:
OSHA found 3 repeat violations at the Columbus plant: Lack of machine guarding on horizontal shafts in the flour mill, failing to provide all required information on OSHA injury and illness logs, and exposing workers to falls greater than 7 feet. Those violations were cited at ConAgra facilities in Cranbury, N.J., in 2011; in Turners Fall, Mass., in 2010; and in Carol Stream, Ill., in 2009. The other 10 safety violations were also categorized as "serious" by OSHA, including 7 violations for inadequate machine guarding in work areas near moving parts. The good news is that no employee injuries or deaths have been reported in connection with any of the safety violations at ConAgra, in contrast to the Wrigley Chatanooga plant tragedy.