Safety Investigation At M&Ms Factory After Pair Pulled From Chocolate Tank: Osha

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has launched investigation after two contractors fell into a vat of chocolate at the M&M/Mars factory, authorities say.

The OSHA logo, an M&Ms Instagram post and the Factory in Elizabethtown.

Photo Credit: Twitter/OSHA @OSHA_DOL (overlay); Instagram/M&Ms @mnmschocolate (overlay)/Google Maps (Street View)

Jillian Pikora

06/10/2022 2:04 p.m.

The pair fell into the chocolate at the Elizabethtown factory located in the 200 block of Brown Street at 1:51 p.m. on Thursday, June 8, according to Lancaster County Wide Communications.

The trapped people were contracted to the factory from I.K. Stolzfus Services, located in Manheim, Pennsylvania, Leni Fortson, Regional Director at the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Public Affairs tells Daily Voice.

The company specializes in sandblasting, water tank repairs and industrial cleaning, according to the company's website.

The workers were not believed to be at risk of drowning as they can stand up in the vat and the chocolate is only waist deep, according to LCWC.

Elizabethtown firefighters were called to the scene for the rescue mission and are believed to have drilled a hole in the bottom of the vat to free the trapped pair, according to emergency scanners.

Both people were rescued and taken to local hospitals around 3:45 p.m., according to emergency dispatchers.

"OSHA has a total of six months to conduct its investigation and release its findings," Fortson concludes the statement to Daily Voice.

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