Popular grocery store chain Wegmans has been hit with $188,200 in fines over major safety issues at the company's central bakery in Rochester, N.Y. According to Syracuse.com, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration — or OSHA — says that the bakery violated workplace safety rules multiple times and that these violations "contributed to injuries to two workers."
OSHA claims in March, an employee lost his fingertip while cleaning a conveyor belt. WIVB writes that Wegmans allegedly failed to "turn off and lock the conveyor's power source." Additionally in April, a mechanic at the bakery suffered a first-degree burn on his wrist as he was repairing one of the steam valves.
Wegmans says that both employees have recovered and returned to work. Regardless, the agency believes that the injuries would not have occurred if Wegmans had used "proper safeguards." The fines comes just four years after OSHA citied the bakery for similar safety violations in 2011. A spokesperson for Wegmans notes: "We care about our employees and want them to be safe ... Even one injury to an employee is too many for us." Wegmans has 15 days to contest the fines.
Wegmans isn't the only company in the spotlight for possible safety violations. Former employees of Texas-based ice cream company Blue Bell Creameries recently came forward with claims alleging that the company's factory in Brenham is unsafe and unsanitary. Workers say that the facility often did not have enough hot water to properly clean equipment, that gunk from a dirty air vent would steadily drip onto an ice cream product, and that an employee lost the tips on three fingers due to the company's bypassing of safety protocols.