Factory Hit With Fine Over Incident Involving 2 Workers Falling Into Vat of Chocolate

The chocolate accident was the subject of numerous Willy Wonka-referencing headlines last June. Now, it has resulted in a fine from OSHA officials.

February 13, 2023

A Pennsylvania candy factory has been fined over a 2022 incident involving two workers falling into a vat of chocolate.

As you’ll recall, two workers were reported back in June to have been rescued after falling into the vat at the Mars Wrigley Confectionary facility in Elizabethtown. At the time, per a local 911 rep’s statement to Today, the two individuals were “stuck in a sort of dry chocolate.”

Now, as reported by the Associated Press and others over the weekend, the factory has been fined $14,502 in connection with the accident. In an explanation of the citation, which is classified as “serious,” the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said that the two involved workers were employed by an outside entity to work with a Dove chocolate tank.

According to OSHA, the two workers’ 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.” Furthermore, the workers were not adequately trained on the the operation process and safety protocols of the tank itself.

When Complex reached out to Mars Wrigley for comment on Monday, a company spokesperson offered the following:

As for the workers in question, initial reports last June stated that both individuals were ultimately taken to a nearby hospital as part of what was described at the time as precautionary measures.