The U.S. Department of Labor has finalized a settlement with Valenti's Bakery LLC, a commercial baker based in Paterson, New Jersey. This agreement concludes litigation initiated after a May 2024 investigation revealed ongoing safety hazards at the facility.
An initial inspection by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) occurred in June 2023 following an incident where an employee suffered partial finger amputations. The follow-up inspection in May 2024 aimed to verify if previously cited hazards were addressed but found they persisted.
The settlement confirms OSHA's citations against Valenti's Bakery, which included two willful, one repeat, six serious, and one failure-to-abate citation. As part of the agreement, the bakery will pay a $180,000 penalty.
Valenti’s Bakery has committed to several measures as part of the settlement:
- Establishing a safety and health committee involving both employees and management.
- Hiring a third-party consultant for regular safety audits.
- Posting bilingual safety signage and providing training in English and Spanish.
- Implementing daily safety checklists and security cameras to improve exit route safety.
- Introducing new engineering controls.
- Conducting spot checks to ensure proper lockout/tagout procedures are followed.
OSHA offers resources on its machine guarding and control of hazardous energy webpages for limiting worker exposure to machine-related risks.
