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The settlement of a $15,000 fine was due for payment on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023, according to OSHA.
Through an investigation, OSHA found that Mars Wrigley failed train the workers, including explaining the temperature of the tank and the flow of the chocolate it contained, as explained in the final report.
“The employer did not ensure that the employee had the knowledge of the type and magnitude of the energy for the task,” the citation noted.
The pair of workers had fallen into the chocolate at the Elizabethtown factory located in the 200 block of Brown Street at 1:51 p.m. on Thursday, June 8, 2022, 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.
The extent of their injuries was not shared publicly.
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