DARLINGTON, Wis. — A Darlington plant faces more than $23,000 in fines after a federal agency found a lack of inspection and training procedures led to employee injuries.
U.S. Department of Labor officials issued four citations against Wisconsin Whey Protein, resulting in penalties totaling $23,440. The company produces whey protein concentrates and cheeses at 160 Christensen Drive in Darlington.
The company entered into an informal settlement with the Department of Labor to remedy the situation and pay the necessary fines, according to department officials, and abatement efforts are ongoing.
All four citations resulted from inspections conducted at the Darlington plant in July. Three were considered “serious” violations, according to citation documents, while the fourth was identified as “other-than-serious.”
Whey Wisconsin Protein officials were unable to provide comment by deadline Tuesday.
The three serious violations related to failure to provide proper safety measures, training or inspections that affected worker safety. The non-serious violation related to unauthorized modification of equipment.
In one instance, documents state a failure to fully train maintenance workers on the purpose and function of an energy control program resulted in employees sustaining “thermal and fall injuries,” though the severity and number of injuries were not listed.
Citation reports also state the plant failed to complete periodic inspection of the energy control procedure itself and did not ensure that certain fall-protections were in place.
The department initially recommended $44,644 in fines, but that amount was decreased following settlement negotiations and promises from the company to resolve the reported issues.
Regional Department of Labor Public Affairs Director Scott Allen said seeing penalty amounts decrease after a settlement meeting is fairly common practice, as the department’s primary concern is that safety issues are addressed.
“The goal of issuing these citations really is to see the issue abated as soon as possible,” he explained. “So it’s not uncommon to see those penalties go down if that will help the issue be addressed sooner.”
The case against the plant will remain open until all penalties are paid and abatement efforts are completed, Allen said. An open case also exists against the company’s second location in Turtle Lake, Wis.