GREEN TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Another worker at Zwanenberg Food Group USA in Green Township has lost a body part as a result of negligence on the company's part, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Labor.
It's the second time since October 2022 that someone working in the facility has suffered an amputation as a result of the company's violations. The first time, a 29-year-old temporary worker at the company fell into an industrial blender and became caught in the machine's rotating paddle augers. As a result, the employee's leg had to be amputated, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Despite being cited and fined over $1 million for company violations discovered after that incident, OSHA was called again to the food processing plant to investigate after another temporary worker lost a finger, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Labor.
That press release says OSHA was called to the plant on June 23; the investigation revealed the temporary worker had been on the job just seven months.
The worker whose leg was amputated had been on the job nine months.
The recent injury happened when the worker reached into a meat grinder's discharge port that lacked the required safety guards, OSHA found.
After its investigation into the most recent incident, OSHA cited the company for two repeat violations: Not having required machine guarding on a discharge port and failing to train employees on the company's lockout/tagout processes.
Including the October 2022 incident that cost an employee their leg, this is the fourth time OSHA has cited Zwanenberg Food Group USA's failure to properly train its employees on lockout/tagout safety standards that are meant to protect workers from coming into contact with moving machine parts.
"OSHA viewed the most recent incident as part of a pattern that led the agency to investigate if workers at Zwanenberg faced an imminent danger from unguarded or inadequately guarded machinery," says the press release from the U.S. Department of Labor.
Production at the plant was paused after the June 23 incident and Zwanenberg agreed to correct guard hazards on its processing equipment, train employees on safe machine operation and implement safety programs. OSHA said it would monitor the company's progress in rectifying the issues.
"While they have taken a first important step at this plant, Zwanenberg Food Group needs to change their workplace culture and make worker safety a priority," said Ken Montgomery, OSHA area director in Cincinnati. "As an employer, they are responsible for protecting their temporary workers and making sure they are trained on workplace hazards and control measures to address those hazards."
OSHA proposed the food processing company pay $1.9 million in penalties for the October 2022 incident. The company was also been placed on OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program in 2017, after it was found in violation of several similar rules.
Zwanenberg Food Group USA has contested OSHA's findings that it was at fault in the June incident; it's also contesting two investigations from 2022.
The Green Township location of Zwanenberg Food Group is the company's U.S. base, though the company is a subsidiary of a Holland-based company founded in 1875. The Green Township facility currently employs around 175 workers.
WCPO has reached out to a spokesperson with Zwanenberg, but have not yet heard back.
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