OSHA Cites NaturPak $364,100 After Three Workers Killed at Janesville Pet Food Plant

OSHA cited IPMF LLC, which operates as NaturPak, $364,100 on Aug. 20 after two industrial kettle failures at the company's pet food plant in Janesville, Wisconsin, killed three workers and seriously injured two more.

The Rock County Medical Examiner's Department identified the three men who died as Gerardo Vargas Soto, 30, of Beloit; Roberto Martinez, 55, of Beloit; and Laurance A. Perkins, 38, of Rockford, Illinois.

Coverage of those identifications has not been consistent. WKOW and the Beloit Daily News both print the names as above. The Janesville Gazette has rendered Martinez as "Roberto C. Martinez" in one story and as "Roberto Hernandez of Beloit" in another, and has rendered Perkins as "Alex Perkins of Rockford." This report follows the WKOW and Beloit Daily News renderings of the medical examiner's identifications.

What OSHA says happened

Both incidents involved the lid of a pressurized industrial kettle opening while workers were near it.

On Feb. 12, a clogged vent line let pressure build inside a kettle until the lid opened unexpectedly, according to OSHA. The kettle released steam, liquid and organic material, burning two employees. One worker was struck by an object and suffered a concussion. Both were hospitalized, and one later died of complications from his injuries.

The dates do not line up cleanly. OSHA's citation puts that first incident on Feb. 12. The Janesville Gazette dates the explosion Feb. 11, and Rockford News First, reporting the medical examiner's announcement, timed it to about 4:15 p.m. that day. This report follows OSHA's Feb. 12 for the citation record, because that is the date on the enforcement document, and flags the discrepancy rather than resolving it.

On March 18, a kettle lid again opened under pressure and released steam, hot liquid and organic material. Three workers were burned. Two died; the third was hospitalized.

Vargas Soto was injured in the February blast and died April 11, nearly two months later. Martinez died March 22, four days after the March explosion. Perkins died March 24.

The citations

OSHA opened a separate inspection after each incident and issued citations across three classifications.

Repeat violations — the most serious classification in this case. OSHA labels a citation "repeat" when the employer has already been cited for the same or a substantially similar condition and that earlier citation has become final. The repeat items here cover failing to develop, document and use lockout/tagout procedures; failing to train employees on those procedures; and exposing workers to falls to lower levels. OSHA's release does not identify the earlier citations behind the repeat designation.

Lockout/tagout is the procedure for isolating and de-energizing equipment before a worker services it, so the machine cannot start, move or release stored energy while someone is inside or reaching into it. Stored energy is what a pressurized kettle holds.

Serious violations, which OSHA uses where a hazard could cause death or serious physical harm:

• Kettle design and usage that created pressure and thermal-burn hazards
• Exposing workers to thermal hazards without quick access to emergency water
• Exposing workers to falls into the kettles
• Failing to assess personal protective equipment for thermal risks

Other-than-serious: failing to notify employees working next to permit-required confined spaces.

Read together, the citations describe a job done at and above open, pressurized cooking vessels — close enough to fall in, close enough to be hit by a steam-and-liquid release, and without an emergency water source in reach when that happened.

Penalties and what comes next

The inspection following the February incident produced $115,850 in penalties. The March inspection produced $248,250. The combined proposed penalty is $364,100.

Proposed is the operative word. Under federal law, NaturPak has 15 business days from receiving the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission — an independent agency, separate from OSHA, that adjudicates contested citations. Penalties frequently change through that process. As of Aug. 26, the company had not said publicly whether it will contest.

The company

NaturPak is the trade name of IPMF LLC, which runs the pet food plant at 100 Innovation Drive in Janesville.

The company said in a statement after the citations were announced: "NaturPak has worked collaboratively with OSHA during its review and shares OSHA's commitment to safe workplaces. As part of our ongoing efforts, we are updating various aspects of our production facilities and continuously looking for ways to improve our existing protocols. We remain dedicated to meeting our high standards for quality and safety."

That statement describes the company's conduct during OSHA's review. A different process ran first, and it ran differently. Janesville police referred the March case to federal OSHA after reporting that plant officials were uncooperative with the officers conducting the police investigation, and after noting evidence that supervisors had told employees not to give information to police, The Janesville Gazette reported. The Gazette also reported that five days after the March blast, NaturPak posted a notice canceling all three shifts for the day, said operations would resume the next day, gave no explanation, and did not answer calls to its front office.

The Janesville deaths join 411 Press's ongoing industrial accident coverage. The enforcement posture — repeat citations following worker deaths — matches OSHA's willful and repeat case against Woodland Pulp after two workers died in a hydrogen sulfide release in Baileyville, Maine, where the agency also found the employer had been on notice of the hazard.

We'll follow this one through the citation-contest process.