Ice cream manufacturer cited after two workers lose fingers

A New Jersey manufacturer of grocery ice cream bars and ice pops has been cited by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration after two workers lost fingers in the same machine.

Lakewood, New Jersey-based Fieldbrook Foods Corp. was cited for willfully failing to shut down and isolate energy to a machine during repair work, according to an OSHA statement released Monday. The agency proposed penalties of $237,000.

OSHA said Fieldbrook Foods, a subsidiary of Wells Enterprises Inc. that makes Blue Bunny ice cream and Bomb Pops, ignored safety protocols, despite a sanitation worker losing a finger in an ice cream wrapper machine in 2018 and a maintenance mechanic losing two fingers in 2020 while repairing the same equipment.

An OSHA inspector cited Fieldbrook, which employs about 200 workers, for violating lockout/tagout safety standards. The company has 15 business days to contest the findings.