Mars Wrigley was fined nearly $15,000 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for an incident last summer where two people fell into a chocolate tank.
A violation detail document from OSHA explained that employees from I.K. Stoltzfus Service Corp. were cleaning tanks at the Elizabethtown, Pa., Mars Wrigley factory, including a Dove chocolate batching 20-micron tank on June 9 of last year.
CNN identified the facility, located at 295 Brown Street, as an M&M factory.
According to Lancaster Online, “more than two dozen emergency personnel” responded to the factory shortly after 2 p.m. that day. Per dispatch reports cited by the outlet, the individuals were “not floating around” in a vat of chocolate and first responders were having trouble getting them out of the tank.
“Rescue units had to cut a hole out of the bottom in order to free the employees, according to dispatch reports,” said the outlet.
Penn Live, also citing dispatch reports, said that the “people in the tank were not hurt” and that the chocolate was “believed to be about waist-high.”
“Fire crews have eliminated pulling them straight out of a tank,” Brad Wolfe, communications supervisor for Lancaster County 911 dispatch, told CNN. “They have to cut a hole in the side of the tank to get them out.”
Both of the I.K. Stoltzfus Service Corp. employees were transported to hospitals, one via helicopter, according to police dispatch cited by Lancaster Online.
“We can confirm both external contractors have been taken offsite for further evaluation,” a representative from Mars Wrigley said an email, according to the outlet. “We’re extremely grateful for the quick work of the first responders.”
“One patient was transported by ground and one person was transported by helicopter,” said Assistant Supervisor Nick Schoenberger of Lancaster County 911 Dispatch, according to a CNN report. At that time the extent of their injuries is unknown.
Both patients were transported to the hospital, told CNN.
By the following day, the factory had resumed normal operations, said Lancaster Online. Officials with Elizabethtown Fire Department declined to comment further and referred a reporter from the outlet to Mars Wrigley.
“We do not have any additional information to share at this time,” said Caitlin Kemper, Senior Manager External Affairs Corporate Affairs and Communications with Mars Wrigley, shortly after the incident, per the outlet.
Efforts to reach Caitlin Kemper, Senior Manager External Affairs Corporate Affairs and Communications with Mars Wrigley, were not successful on Thursday. The Elizabethtown facility is owned by Mars Inc., which is headquartered globally in McLean, Virginia.
According to the violation detail document, the citation for Mars Wrigley was “serious” and it carried a $14,502 penalty.
“The employer did not ensure that the employee had the knowledge of the type and magnitude of the energy for the task,” per the document. It also said “the host employer did not provide the outside employer with the correct energy control procedure or work authorization permit that included verification of flowable material isolation given the permitted entry.”
Kevin Chambers, area director for OSHA’s Harrisburg office, told Lancaster Online that “negotiations were successful, and a settlement was signed by both parties,” regarding the incident.
“The employer completed the corrective actions and paid their penalty,” he said, according to a Friday report. “The case was then administratively closed.”
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