OSHA Finds Bread Company Violated Safety Rules Following Worker’s Injury

OSHA Finds Bread Company Violated Safety Rules Following Worker’s Injury

Pan-O-Gold Baking Company faces $262,953 in proposed penalties

A recent OSHA investigation has revealed safety violations at a commercial baking facility in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, after an employee sustained disabling injuries while adjusting a sensor in a bread pattern forming machine in October 2023.

According to a recent release, OSHA cited Pan-O-Gold Baking Company—which operates the facility—for two repeat violations related to lockout/tagout and energy control procedures. Inspectors also identified six serious and two other-than-serious violations for inadequate employee training, machine guarding, failure to require hand protection, and lapses in injury reporting, for a total of $262,953 in proposed penalties. 

“Pan-O-Gold Baking Company could have prevented this employee from suffering life-altering injuries by implementing required safety procedures to stop the machine from unexpectedly starting up as he tried to adjust the sensor,” OSHA Area Director Chad Greenwood in Madison, Wisconsin, said in a statement. “Instead, this worker and his family are now forced to face an uncertain future and the personal and financial struggles that come with suffering disabling injuries and being unable to return to work.”

OSHA identified the injury rate at the Sun Prairie facility as 160 percent higher than the industry average. Pan-O-Gold Baking Company—which produces bread products for retail, commercial and food service use under a variety of brand names—faced a similar investigation at the same location in 2019. OSHA found workers had suffered amputation and laceration injuries due to inadequate lockout/tagout procedures.

Pan-O-Gold Baking Co. now has 15 business days to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the agency’s findings.

About the Author

Robert Yaniz Jr. is the Content Editor of Occupational Health & Safety.

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