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ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — U.S. regulators have fined Mars Wrigley, the maker of Snickers and Skittles, after two workers fell into a tank of chocolate at its Pennsylvania factory last June.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the confectionery and chewing gum maker $14,500 for the incident, which it described as "serious" in a report.
"Employees of an outside employer, I.K. Stoltzfus Service Corp., cleaned tanks, including the Dove chocolate batching 20 micron tank, owned by the onsite/host employer, Mars Wrigley," the report said.
Mars Wrigley failed to provide the contractors with adequate safety training, the document added.
According to Penn Live, a local news site, firefighters rescued the workers by drilling a hole in the bottom of the tank and pulling them out. The chocolate was about waist-high, it reported.
"The safety of our associates and outside contractors are a top priority for our business," a spokesperson for Mars Wrigley said in a statement. "As always, we appreciate OSHA's collaborative approach to working with us to conduct the after-action review."
