Italian salamella sausage in plastic food tray for sale in the market isolated on white in top view

DOL Levies More Than $103,000 in Fines on Alabama Sausage Processor Dean’s Sausage Co.

Dec. 13, 2024

After the third OSHA inspection in three years, the Dept. of Labor has proposed an additional $103,245 in fines for repeat worker safety violations.

Andy Hanacek

The U.S. Dept. of Labor (DOL), after a follow-up inspection by its Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), has proposed an additional $103,245 in fines for Atalla, Ala., fresh and frozen sausage processor Dean’s Sausage Co. Inc., according to a release from the DOL.

The proposed fines result primarily from the company allegedly failing to correct worker safety hazards first identified during two inspections dating back to 2022. In December 2022, OSHA cited Dean’s Sausage with seven serious and seven other-than-serious violations for not ensuring proper safety guarding on machinery, failure to lockout/tagout machines before maintenance and service, unsafe use of electric power and lighting installations, and exposure of employees to struck-by and caught-in hazards, electric shock and burns, as well as hazardous chemicals.

In September 2023, OSHA returned to find many of the same violations, receiving citations for nine repeat and two serious violations, plus one other-than-serious violation. The first two inspections resulted in $109,823 in penalties

The new fines come after the third inspection in July 2024, which saw Dean’s Sausage get cited for three repeat violations for not developing, documenting and using machine-specific lockout/tagout procedures, no training on the lockout/tagout program, and failure to develop or implement a written hazardous chemicals communication and exposure program.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.