Inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) learned the sanitation worker suffered fatal injuries while working on the overnight shift under the supervision of Miracapo Pizza Company at its Gurnee sheeting facility in December 2022.
OSHA inspectors determined the woman, a temporary worker provided by XCEL Staffing Solutions LLC in Waukegan, was using compressed air to clean a spiral conveyer as it moved to cool pizza when her head became caught in the machinery. The agency found that temporary workers had not been trained or given the authority to stop equipment from moving before cleaning.
The tragedy occurred just weeks after a November 2022 incident at the same facility in which a worker performing maintenance on a sauce depositor suffered an amputation, which led OSHA to assess Miracapo $290,191 in proposed penalties. In October 2021, another employee suffered the amputation of a fingertip while trying to clear a jammed pizza conveyor.
Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker said: “This tragedy took the life of a young woman, and forever changes the lives of her family, friends and co-workers. Safety standards are put in place to prevent these kinds of tragedies. Employers have a responsibility to train workers in the language they understand so they know how to perform their work safely.”
The December incident led OSHA to cite Miracapo Pizza Company, which also does business as Little Lady Foods, for 16 willful egregious violations, the agency’s most severe, one willful violation, and 12 serious violations, including five serious instance-by-instance violations of two standards on different machines.
OSHA issued $2,812,658 in penalties and has placed the company in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program.
Specifically, inspectors identified the following failures and hazards:
OSHA Regional Administrator Bill Donovan in Chicago added: “Our investigations at Miracapo Pizza Company show why OSHA’s regional emphasis programme for the food manufacturing industry is so important, especially as we continue to find third-shift sanitation workers suffering injuries. The programme addresses common hazards particularly found in facilities like this one and educates employers on how following OSHA and industry-recognised safety standards can prevent more tragedies.”
OSHA also issued a citation to GDI Services Inc., a contractor that provides sanitation services to Miracapo Pizza Company, for two willful and two serious violations for failing to lock out equipment while cleaning food processing machines, failing to train workers in a language they understand on safety procedures, not providing hardware necessary to lockout or tagout equipment, and failing to provide effective information and training regarding hazardous chemicals.
The agency has assessed GDI Services with $334,839 in proposed penalties. The contractor provides third-shift sanitation crews sourced by Wilbro Management Service Inc. of Detroit to supply temporary workers, many of whom only speak Spanish.
Miracapo Pizza Company and GDI Services have 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Safran Seats GB Limited was carrying out work to vacate its premises in Llantarnam Industrial Park in Cwmbran when the incident happened on 19 May 2020.
Kevin Lewis, who was 62 at the time, suffered multiple broken bones, including eight to his ribs, his collar bone, as well as a fractured skull. He had been dismantling and removing a spraying booth when he fell more than seven feet through its roof.
Mr Lewis was knocked unconscious as he hit the concrete floor and suffered a bleed on the brain.
The HSE’s investigation found inadequate planning of the work at height meant suitable equipment wasn’t used and insufficient instruction and training had been given to those carrying out the work.
In the five-year period between 2017 and 2022, 174 workers in Great Britain – a quarter of those killed in accidents at work – tragically fell to their death, according to the HSE.
Safran Seats GB Limited pleaded guilty at Cwmbran Magistrates Court to breaching section 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and fined £660,000. They must also pay costs of £13,472.
HSE Inspector Seren Linton said: “Those in control of any work have a responsibility to devise safe methods of working. They should also provide the necessary information, instruction, and training to their workers on the safe system of working.
“If these basic practices had been followed, this incident would have been entirely preventable.”
What you’ll get: During a three-week period from the end of March 2021 consumers in the Amesbury area of Wiltshire complained of an unacceptable taste to their tap water which made the water undrinkable. The cause for the objectionable taste was due to the company failing to undertake the required checks on the carbon filter which, if completed, would have identified the presence of iodinated organic compounds leaving the treatment works.
Wessex Water Services Limited pleaded guilty to an offence under section 70 of the Water Industry Act 1991 for the supply of water unfit for human consumption. The Inspectorate was critical that the company did not correctly follow their own internal testing procedures which would have identified the presence of the taste causing compounds. There were some issues reported with the communication given to consumers and provision of alternative water supplies.
In response, Marcus Rink, Chief Inspector of Drinking Water said: “Consumers experienced water with an unpleasant taste which would not have happened had the required checks been carried out on the carbon filter before it was brought into use. This prosecution acts as a reminder to companies that a water quality first approach must be taken when providing a service to the public. I am content that the court has recognised the seriousness of this event.”
Monsoon Properties Limited were ordered to pay fines and costs totalling over £49,000 for the failures at the flat in Tavistock Place, WC1H 9RX at a sentencing held at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court.
Monsoon Properties Limited pleaded guilty to charges on breaches of Regulations 4, 7 and 8 of the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006 at a previous hearing. Issues noted included:
The Court fined Monsoon Properties Limited £10,000 for each breach of Regulations – a total fine of £30,000 – and to pay Camden Council’s costs of £7,020, plus a surcharge of £12,000. This means Monsoon Properties Limited must pay a total of £49,020.
Councillor Meric Apak, Cabinet Member for Better Homes, said: “This isn’t the first time Monsoon Properties Limited have been prosecuted and they should know – as should all landlords and management companies in Camden – that we will not hesitate to take landlords who we suspect are breaking the law to court. We will also seek to ban bad landlords – our record of securing seven banning orders against rogue landlords is more than any other Council in England.
“Camden is committed to ensuring the highest standard of fire safety across our housing. This of course means a deep dive into safety in our own council housing and our significant investment includes ensuring our homes have appropriate fire doors, emergency lighting, fire alarms and fire stopping. It also means ensuring we hold private landlords and management companies to the same high standards – to ensure all our residents have safe homes to live in.”
What you’ll get: The pollution – which stretched 46km to The Wash at Boston – is thought to be one of ‘the largest environmental incidents ever recorded in Lincolnshire’.
Failure of an overground pipe caused the spill, which devastated nearby rivers and surrounding woodland. Impact from the pollution destroyed all invertebrates in the river’s tributaries for more than 23km downstream of the site.
Immediately after the pollution, the Environment Agency and partners worked ‘tirelessly’ to mitigate the impacts. They restocked the river with more than 1.5 million fish larvae and 70,000 roach and bream. And they continue to work closely with East Lindsey District Council and the Forestry Commission to remedy affected woodland.
Whilst the water quality of the River Witham improved within a few days, it could take years for the fisheries to recover, the court heard.
OMEX Agriculture Ltd pleaded guilty to the major category 1 pollution incident at their facility at Bardney Airfield, Tupholme, near Bardney, at Lincolnshire Magistrates. Category 1 is the most severe of three Environment Agency ratings used to grade pollution incidents.
They were ordered to pay a fine of £160,000, ordered to pay costs of £350,000 and a victim surcharge of £190.
District Judge Veits said that the incident ‘was avoidable had proper checks been made’. He added that ‘checks were not clear or well documented’ and that the failures involved were ‘foreseeable’.
He also said there was: ‘clear negligence in not having appropriate checks in place’.
Leigh Edlin, Environment Agency area director for Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, said: “The pollution of the River Witham by OMEX was a devastating event and one of the largest environmental incidents we have seen in Lincolnshire.
“The Environment Agency has worked tirelessly to undo the damage, introducing thousands of fish, and requiring the polluter, OMEX, to repair the damage that was done.
“[This] marks the end of the legal process and we are rightly pleased with the result in the court. This is one part of a much larger effort, led by the Environment Agency, to ensure the River Witham is restored and that the polluter pays financially and legally.”
OMEX Agriculture Ltd, the global company, which has its headquarters at Lincolnshire, manufacturers liquid chemical fertiliser for the agricultural industry and de-icer products which it ships around the UK and the world.
In March 2018, approximately three million litres of liquid urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) concentrate fertiliser escaped from a storage lagoon into the River Witham and tributaries.
The incident triggered a massive Environment Agency response and investigation, including the launch of the Environment Agency’s marine survey vessel.
Fish density within the River Witham was greatly affected and the population of pike is likely to take years to recover due to the number of adult fish killed. Around three hectares of woodland with ancient woodland characteristics was also damaged with all the trees in the area having to be felled.
The court heard how OMEX, which stores UAN for production of fertilisers, failed to put in place an appropriate maintenance and inspection regime to avoid the catastrophic pollution.
Fertiliser was held in two sealed ‘bladder’ bag lagoons, both holding the equivalent liquid of three Olympic swimming pools, or 7.5 million litres.
Pipework, operated by an electronic pump system, was used to pump liquid fertiliser from the two lagoons to holding tanks elsewhere on their site. Road tankers were filled from these, they then transported the fertiliser for sale. The pump system was manual until 2017, when it was updated to an automated system by the company’s electrical contractor.
Ultimately, it was the failure of both the overground pipe and an electrical fault that went unnoticed and enabled the pump to continue pumping that led to the devastating discharge.
Environment Agency officers discovered a number of dead fish in the River Witham at Southrey following a report in early March 2018. They traced the pollution upstream via an increasing trail of dead fish and high ammonia readings, eventually identifying the OMEX site as the source and immediately entered the site to report it.
Liquid fertiliser was found ‘gushing’ from the elbow joint of an overground pipe which left the surrounding ground and woodland sodden with pooling liquid fertiliser. The pump was immediately switched off but most of the pollution had already escaped to the river.
On 8 March 2018, a temporary dam built on nearby woodland and the fixing of leaking pipes by OMEX still failed to contain the leak. Saturated ground and contaminated surface water continued to pose a high pollution risk.
It was halted through excavations at source and the fitting of a culvert and concrete pipe to keep contamination away from clean water.
Upstream of Bardney Lock, where the pollution entered the River Witham, in Snakeholme Drain and Scotsgrove Drain, high levels of ammonia remained for months.
The incident was classified as a Category 1 incident under the Environment Agency’s Common Incident Classification Scheme due to its major impact on the environment.
Conservative estimates have the loss of fish life of more than 135,000. Approximately 1 tonne of dead fish was disposed of at a landfill site around a month later. This included roach, bream, perch, as well as large pike, due to spawn.
An independent investigator found the pipework had separated at the leaking elbow joint because it was faulty. The review found that had it been checked when first installed, over 20 years ago, it would have been identified as faulty but no testing had been done. Overground pipework was only checked visually and there were no records of those checks.
There was no routine maintenance of electrical systems and therefore foreseeable electrical faults were not planned for.
In July 2020, OMEX was ordered to carry out river recovery measures set out by the Environment Agency. Under the Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2015, the company has been working to restore the river to its former health.
Fish refuges have been installed across half a dozen locations on the river. OMEX has also created further backwaters along the river, areas where fish have calm and still water to breed and shelter.
The company must assess whether fish populations have recovered, or whether more restocking is required to bring the river back to its former health.
OMEX will be responsible for monitoring and maintaining the improvements for at least the next decade.
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