BARTLETT, ILL. — Rana Meal Solutions LLC was cited for the third time within five years for failing to follow workplace safety requirements to protect employees from moving machinery parts, according to the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

OSHA’s investigation found that a Rana Meal Solutions employee incurred a finger amputation after trying to find a piece of a broken ball valve lodged in a hot pasta sauce line at the company’s Bartlett, Ill., facility.

“Once again, our inspectors found Rana Meal Solutions LLC ignoring federal safety requirements to make sure dangerous machines are guarded or fully de-energized before they are maintained or serviced,” said Jacob Scott, OSHA area director in Naperville, Ill. “In 2019 and 2020, OSHA found the company exposed employees to the risk of severe injuries and now, in 2023, their failure to follow industry and federal safety standards led one worker to suffer a painful, disfiguring injury.”

The previous OSHA citations included two repeat and eight “serious” violations. Rana Meal Solutions was issued $272,792 in proposed penalties.

The company did not make certain employees follow lockout/tagout procedures while servicing and maintaining sauce line equipment and other machines, OSHA said. Additionally, OSHA investigators reported that Rana Meal Solutions did not perform and document annual inspections of machine specific lockout procedures.

The additional eight violations included:

  • Not installing a guardrail to prevent employees from falling into dangerous machinery from above.
  • Storing chemicals in a room without adequate mechanical ventilation, a raised sill or a grated trench to drain spilled chemicals safely.
  • Not fully implementing a confined space safety program, including the issuance of entry permits.
  • Not developing, documenting or using lockout/tagout procedures for several machines. Investigators found the company did not retrain employees periodically on proper procedures and failed to use group lockouts when several employees serviced and maintained equipment.
  • Failed to inspect slings each day before their use.
  • Not affixing alloy chains with permanent, durable information on size, grade, rated capacity and reach.
  • Lacking adequate machine guarding.
  • Not enclosing chains and sprockets completely to protect employees from injuries.

Rana Meal Solutions is a manufacturer of ready-made pasta, sauces and meals. With two manufacturing buildings in Bartlett and a nearby distribution center, the company ships its products nationwide.