An ice cream manufacturer in New Jersey is facing a penalty that runs up to $237,000 after two of its employees, in separate occasions, lost their fingers while they were trying to fix the same machine.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited the Fieldbrook Foods Corp. in Lakewood due to its failure to shut down a machine before doing maintenance work. The OSHA cited the act as "willful." As per the OSHA, two mechanics got injured because of this failure to shut down.

Fox News reported that in 2020, a mechanic lost two fingers simply because the machine was not turned off before maintenance work commenced. Two years before the 2020 incident, the same machine also injured a sanitation worker, which cost him to lose one finger after his fingers got caught in the equipment. Aside from losing a finger, another finger got fractured.

According to the OSHA, the worker who got injured in 2018 was employed under Mister Cookie Face LLC, a manufacturer of ice cream sandwiches, which is owned by Fieldbrook Foods Corp. It stated that in both instances, the company failed to shut down the machine properly, which caused the irreversible injuries to two mechanics.

"Fieldbrook Foods knew that machines must be completely disabled before workers perform service and maintenance," Paula Dixon-Roderick, the OSHA Area Director, said in a news release.

She further stated that instead of addressing the amputation hazards, the company still continued to expose the workers to dangerous machinery.

Fieldbrook Farms has 15 days from the date of notice, which was given on March 15, to contest the findings of the OSHA on its liability, as well as the penalties. The company, Wells Enterprises, which owns Fieldbrook, said that it will dispute the findings of the OSHA.

Ice Cream Ice Cream
Summer ice cream. Photo: Pixabay

"Wells Enterprises considers workplace safety an utmost priority, and we cooperated fully with OSHAs investigation conducted at the Lakewood, New Jersey, manufacturing facility in September 2020. Wells disputes OSHAs findings and intends to contest the citation to attempt to set the record straight," said Wells.

The company also said that it is committed to keeping its employees safe while they are at work. It will also continuously monitor the safety policies and procedures that will work for the benefit of employees.