May 2021 Enforcement
OSHA cites New Jersey frozen dessert manufacturer after second amputation injury on same machine
Despite two severe amputation injuries in 2018 and 2020 on the same machine at a Lakewood ice cream manufacturing plant, a recent federal safety and health inspection found the company continues to ignore protocols designed to prevent other workers from suffering similar injuries.
A maintenance mechanic lost two fingers while repairing an ice cream wrapper machine. Following a September 2020 investigation, OSHA found that Fieldbrook Foods Corp. willfully failed to shut down and isolate energy to the machine during repair work. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed $237,176 in penalties.
The same machine was involved in a 2018 incident in which a sanitation worker lost one finger and fractured another when his fingers got caught while repairing the jammed equipment.
In both instances, OSHA found Fieldbrook Foods Corp. violated safety standards for preventing accidental machine startup, a process known as lockout/tagout. The company employs about 200 workers in Lakewood.
