WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Labor Department said on Friday that Hostess Brands is facing a $298,000 penalty after federal investigators found that the bakery’s safety and training failures led to a worker’s amputation injury.
The Labor Department said its investigation found that the Hostess could have prevented the amputation injury of a 29-year-old worker, who lost a fingertip while reassembling a pump at a company facility in Chicago in December.
Hostess could have prevented the injury by ensuring that equipment is shut down and locked up to prevent it from unexpectedly starting during maintenance, the department said in a statement.
“Employers can spare their employees these kinds of painful injuries by complying with OSHA and industry-recognized safety standards,” said Sukhvir Kaur, an official for the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Hostess “failed to make sure shafts, sprockets and moving parts on equipment such as a dough mixer, coolers, icing and wrapping stations and box stoppers had required guarding in place to protect workers from contact with pinch points and moving parts,” according to the statement.
OSHA inspectors cited the company for one willful violation, one repeat violation and five serious violations. The company has 15 business days to comply, request an informal conference, or contest the Labor Department findings.
Hostess did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The investigation was launched after the company, which makes popular snacks, including Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Donettes, reported the injury to the Labor Department.
(Reporting by Kathrine Jackson and Ismail Shakil; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
