OSHA seeks $1.1M in penalties from Wis. company

[Omaha Steve]

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/jun/22/health/chi-ap-wi-oshafine-wisconsi

Archive for Monday, June 22, 2009

By Robert Imrie
June 22, 2009

WAUSAU, Wis. - The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is seeking $1.14 million in penalties from a Wisconsin whey processing plant cited for violating federal workplace safety regulations.

The proposed penalties are the second highest OSHA has sought this year, Brad Mitchell, a spokesman for the U.S. Labor Department in Chicago, said Monday.

Milk Specialties Global of Whitehall was cited after a December inspection prompted by a complaint alleging safety hazards at the plant, Mitchell said. Among other things, the company was accused of allowing untrained workers without protection from various hazards to do maintenance in liquid whey storage tanks and driers that had power equipment.

“We have had five fatalities due to confined space entry issues in Wisconsin in the past two years and there is no reason this has to happen. These are preventable fatalities and employers need to understand that,” Mitchell said.

Milk Specialties leased the Whitehall plant, which was built in the 1940s, and opened it in October 2008 to convert liquid whey, a byproduct of making cheese, into powdered whey in a process that involves spraying and heating the liquid, said OSHA Area Director Mark Hysell in Eau Claire.

The powered whey is shipped to other facilities, some of which feed it to calves, Hysell said.

FULL story at link.

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