Ammonia leaks lead to more than $150,000 in fines for firm

The Washington state Department of Labor & Industries has proposed penalties of $154,000 for Spokane, Washington-based beverage maker Johanna Beverage Co. after it allegedly failed to protect workers from ammonia leaks.

Labor & Industries, Washington state’s monopoly workers compensation insurer, discovered three ammonia leaks that put workers in harm's way in the past year, the agency said in a statement Friday. During each leak, the agency said employees were unprepared on how to handle the situation.

In one incident that took place in August, “panicked employees ran downwind of the leak into the vapor cloud. Eight employees were exposed; one was sickened and taken to the hospital,” Labor & Industries said in the statement.

Labor & Industries cited Johanna Beverage with two willful violations and two serious violations. The citations included failing to develop a written emergency response plan for what to do in the event of an ammonia leak, not providing employees with emergency response training, not providing an ammonia alarm system and not ensuring that voluntary use of respirators was done safely.

Johanna Beverage could not be immediately reached for comment.