CINCINNATI — For the second time since 2022, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed fines for Zwanenberg Food Group USA due to worker injuries at its Cincinnati facility leading to amputations.

On June 23, 2023, the agency responded to an incident of a serious injury suffered by a 29-year-old temporary kitchen worker at the plant. OSHA’s investigation found that the worker suffered a finger amputation after reaching into a meat grinder’s discharge port that lacked required safety guards. The worker had been employed for seven months at the time.

Zwanenberg faces $242,197 in proposed OSHA penalties. The agency cited the company for two repeat violations, one for not having required machine guarding on the discharge port and one for failing to train employees on the company’s lockout/tagout procedures.

In April 2023, OSHA issued $1.9 million in proposed penalties after another Zwanenberg temporary worker suffered injuries on Oct. 12, 2022. After nine months on the job, a 29-year-old temporary worker fell into an industrial blender while cleaning and became caught in the rotating paddle augers. The worker’s leg was amputated due to the severity of the injuries.

OSHA cited the plant for similar violations less than two weeks before the October 2022 injury. OSHA noted that Zwanenberg is contesting both 2022 investigations.

The company is set to appear before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission to contest the agency’s findings.