OSHA Inspection: LIFEWAY WISCONSIN, INC.

Issued

2025-12-12 00:00:00

Abate by

2026-05-29 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $16550.00 · Current $9103.00 Reduced

Hazardous substances 0170

General-duty citation text

OSH ACT of 1970 Section (5)(a)(1): The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to anhydrous ammonia contact, asphyxiation and explosion hazards related to potential release from the ammonia refrigeration system.  On or about June 25, 2025, the employer failed to address and control anhydrous ammonia hazards by developing, implementing and maintaining operating procedures for employee use in activities involving the refrigeration system:   (a) The employer failed to ensure that all activities were addressed with operating procedures. Ammonia refrigeration system activities, such as but not limited to, normal shutdown for the thermosyphon, normal shutdown for the recirculating vessel and startup after power outage, and did not have operating procedures in place.   (b) The employer failed to ensure that operating procedures addressed refrigeration system with clear instructions for safely conducting activities, such as but not limited to temporary operations for pumps AP01 and AP02 and temporary operations for air handling units. The temporary operations procedures for the pumps read "the ammonia pump can be manually run from the starter panel" and the procedure for the air units read "the evaporator can be manually hot gas defrosted through the PLC" without any further instructions.   (c) The employer failed to ensure that operating procedures were reviewed and updated following equipment changes, such as but not limited to compressor removal, new compressor installation, evaporator/chiller removal and evaporator/chiller installation.   Failing to provide and maintain operating procedures with clear instructions for safely conducting refrigeration system activities increases the risk for ammonia related hazards due to anhydrous ammonia release from the system.

Issued

2025-12-12 00:00:00

Abate by

2026-05-29 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $16550.00 · Current $9103.00 Reduced

Hazardous substances 0170

General-duty citation text

OSH ACT of 1970 Section (5)(a)(1): The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to anhydrous ammonia contact, asphyxiation and explosion hazards related to potential release from the ammonia refrigeration system.    (a) On or about June 25, 2025, the employer had not removed the Armaflex insulations, and the dead ends of the HTRS line within the packaging area that connects UC-9 and UC-10. The insulation and dead ends created environments where degradation could occur more rapidly resulting in a release from the ammonia refrigeration system. Release of anhydrous ammonia refrigerant from the system exposes employees to chemical hazards such as chemical burns, over exposure and/or asphyxiation.    (b) On or about June 25, 2025, the employer had not removed the dead ends of the HGD line within the packaging area that connects UC-9 and UC-10. The dead ends created environments where degradation could occur more rapidly resulting in a release from the ammonia refrigeration system. Release of anhydrous ammonia refrigerant from the system exposes employees to chemical hazards such as chemical burns, over exposure and/or asphyxiation.    (c) On or about June 25, 2025, the employer had not corrected missing insulation on the HTRS line on the north side of roof at the elbow going towards UC-8 through UC-5. The pipe had rusting and pitting due to the missing insulation and  weather exposure. Corrosion related pipe failure would result in release from the ammonia refrigeration system. Release of anhydrous ammonia refrigerant from the system exposes employees to chemical hazards such as chemical burns, over exposure and/or asphyxiation.    (d) On or about June 25, 2025, the employer had not corrected missing/ connected insulation on the HTRS line on the south side of roof at the elbow going towards UC-4 through UC-1. The pipe had rusting and pitting due to the missing insulation and  weather exposure. Corrosion related pipe failure would result in release from the ammonia refrigeration system. Release of anhydrous ammonia refrigerant from the system exposes employees to chemical hazards such as chemical burns, over exposure and/or asphyxiation.    (e) On or about June 25, 2025, the employer had not corrected missing insulation on the HG line on the north side of roof at multiple elbows going towards UC-8 through UC-5. The pipe had rusting due to the missing insulation and  weather exposure. Corrosion related pipe failure would result in release from the ammonia refrigeration system. Release of anhydrous ammonia refrigerant from the system exposes employees to chemical hazards such as chemical burns, over exposure and/or asphyxiation.    (f) On or about June 25, 2025, the employer had not corrected missing insulation on the HG line on the south side of roof at multiple elbows going towards UC-4 through UC-1. The pipe had rusting due to the missing insulation and  weather exposure. Corrosion related pipe failure would result in release from the ammonia refrigeration system. Release of anhydrous ammonia refrigerant from the system exposes employees to chemical hazards such as chemical burns, over exposure and/or asphyxiation.    (g) On or about June 25, 2025, the employer had not corrected piping on the HG line on the south side of roof that had missing and broken insulation  at multiple elbows UC-4 through UC-1. The pipe had rusting due to the missing insulation and  weather exposure. Corrosion related pipe failure would result in release from the ammonia refrigeration system. Release of anhydrous ammonia refrigerant from the system exposes employees to chemical hazards such as chemical burns, over exposure and/or asphyxiation.

Issued

2025-12-12 00:00:00

Abate by

2026-05-29 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $16550.00 · Current $9103.00 Reduced

Hazardous substances 0170

General-duty citation text

OSH ACT of 1970 Section (5)(a)(1): The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to anhydrous ammonia contact, asphyxiation and explosion hazards related to potential release from the ammonia refrigeration system.    (a) On or about June 25, 2025, the employer had not preformed frequent and periodic testing on vessel HTR01 (National Board NO: 11045, Serial NO:98206) to ensure that the vessel was maintained and operated within the design specifications. This pressure vessel, also known as the liquid receiver, had never been inspected to determine if under insulation exterior corrosion and pitting related deterioration exceeded minimum wall thickness. Failure to inspect critical process equipment, such as liquid receiver pressure vessels, increases the risk for loss of containment and release from the covered process and potential exposure for employees to ammonia contact, asphyxiation and explosion hazards.

Issued

2025-12-12 00:00:00

Abate by

2026-03-30 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $14188.00 · Current $7803.00 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.120(q)(6): Training shall be based on the duties and function to be performed by each responder of an emergency response organization. The skill and knowledge levels required for all new responders, those hired after the effective date of this standard, shall be conveyed to them through training before they are permitted to take part in actual emergency operations on an incident. Employees who participate, or are expected to participate, in emergency response, shall be given training in accordance with the following paragraphs:  (a) On or about June 25, 2025, and times prior, the employer failed to train employees on their emergency action plan for large and small releases of anhydrous ammonia. The employees did not know about the secondary rally point and did not receive training on specific procedures for large and small releases of anhydrous ammonia.

Issued

2025-12-12 00:00:00

Abate by

2026-03-30 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $16550.00 · Current $9103.00 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.146(c)(3): When the employer decided its employees would not enter permit spaces, the employer did not take effective measures to prevent its employees from entering the permit spaces:   (a) On or about September 29, 2025, and at times prior, the employer did not take effective measures to prevent its employees from entering the permit spaces such as but not limited to the 6000-gallon liquid sugar tanks 1 & 2 for cleaning and sanitization on a routine basis, this exposes the employee to IDLH atmospheres.

Issued

2025-12-12 00:00:00

Abate by

2026-03-30 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $16550.00 · Current $9103.00 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.147(d): The application of energy control (lockout or tagout) actions were not done in the following sequence:  (1) prepare for shutdown, (2) shut down machine or equipment, (3) physically locate and operate energy isolating devices in such a manner as to isolate the machine or equipment from the energy source, (4) affix lockout or tagout devices to each energy isolating device by authorized employee, (5) relieve, disconnect, restrain or otherwise render safe all stored or residual energy, (6) verify that isolation and deenergization of the machine or equipment have been accomplished:  (a) On about September 5, 2025, employees servicing the Poly Pack tunnel did not utilize hazardous energy control procedure when replacing a belt.  As a result, the remaining applicable energy control elements, involving machine isolation [1910.147(d)(3)], lockout/tagout device application [1910.147(d)(4)], dissipation of residual energy [1910(d)(5)(i)], and verification of isolation [1910.147(d)(6)] were not implemented to protect employees from machine hazards.

Issued

2025-12-12 00:00:00

Abate by

2026-03-30 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $0.00 · Current $0.00

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.147(c)(6)(i):The employer shall conduct a periodic inspection of the energy control procedure at least annually to ensure that the procedure and the requirements of this standard are being followed.  (a) On or about June 25, 2025, the employer did not conduct periodic inspections of their energy control procedures to ensure employees were protected from unexpected re-energization of equipment, and that lockout was used by employees performing servicing and maintenance tasks throughout the plant to include, but not limited to ammonia refrigeration equipment, process equipment, fermentation equipment, HTRT equipment, and Intake room equipment. Employees tasked with performing servicing and maintenance tasks were exposed to caught-in, crushing and amputation hazards,  created by the energized machines and process.

Issued

2025-12-12 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $0.00 · Current $0.00

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.147(c)(7)(i)(A): Authorized employee(s) did not receive training in the recognition of applicable hazardous energy sources, the type and magnitude of the energy available in the workplace, and the methods and means necessary for energy isolation and control.  (a) On or about June 25, 2025, employees performing preventive maintenance on equipment were not provided with training on the hazardous energy control program and procedure to control hazardous energy sources.

Issued

2025-12-12 00:00:00

Penalty

Initial $14188.00 · Current $7803.00 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.1200(h)(1):Employers shall provide employees with effective information and training on hazardous chemicals in their work area at the time of their initial assignment, and whenever a new chemical hazard the employees have not previously been trained about is introduced into their work area. Information and training may be designed to cover categories of hazards (e.g., flammability, carcinogenicity) or specific chemicals. Chemical-specific information must always be available through labels and safety data sheets.  (a) On or about June 25, 2025, the employer had not provided employees working with hazardous chemicals such as anhydrous ammonia with effective information and training as outlined in 29 CFR 1910.1200(h)(2) through (h)(3). Information and training was not provided for the following elements:  (i) The requirements of 29 CFR 1910.1200, (ii) Specific operations in their work area where combustible particulate solids (combustible dusts) are utilized, (iii) Methods and observations used to detect the presence or release of hazardous chemicals in the work area, (iv) The physical and health hazards associated with flammable liquids, (v) The physical and health hazards associated with combustible particulate solids (combustible dusts), (vi) The measures employees can take to protect themselves from identified physical and health hazards associated with flammable liquids and combustible particulate solids (combustible dusts) such as safety procedures, emergency procedures, safe work practices, and PPE, and (vii) Explanation of container labeling systems.