Life Imitates Art
February 17, 2023 9:51 AM Subscribe
Mars Wrigley factory fined after two workers fall into chocolate vat
US workplace safety regulators have fined a Pennsylvania factory after two workers fell into a vat of chocolate and had to be rescued.
Chocolate - The Smothers Brothers
Chocolate - The Smothers Brothers
It's the old joke "they got out three times to use the bathroom".
posted by eye of newt at 9:59 AM on February 17, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by eye of newt at 9:59 AM on February 17, 2023 [10 favorites]
Are they okay....?
Like "I want to die via vat of chocolate" sounds like a fun joke, but in reality, probably is not.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:11 AM on February 17, 2023 [9 favorites]
Like "I want to die via vat of chocolate" sounds like a fun joke, but in reality, probably is not.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:11 AM on February 17, 2023 [9 favorites]
Oompa Loopa Doopety Doo
Here is a labour violation for you
Oompa Loopa Doopety Dee
Now you will pay an exorbitant fee
posted by Kitteh at 10:12 AM on February 17, 2023 [78 favorites]
Here is a labour violation for you
Oompa Loopa Doopety Dee
Now you will pay an exorbitant fee
posted by Kitteh at 10:12 AM on February 17, 2023 [78 favorites]
Are they okay....?
It's not quite clear:
It's not quite clear:
The incident happened in June 2022. A hole had to be cut into the bottom of the partly-full tank to get them out.posted by aniola at 10:18 AM on February 17, 2023 [2 favorites]
More than two dozen rescuers responded, and one worker was transported to hospital by helicopter, according to local reports.
As much as I love the Smothers Brothers, the funniest part of this post might be the “Vat” tag.
posted by rikschell at 10:24 AM on February 17, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 10:24 AM on February 17, 2023 [9 favorites]
Oompa loompa doompety donuts
Fuck safety rules; you get shareholder bonus
You will have limited liability
Like the Oompa Loompa Doompety LLC
posted by lalochezia at 10:35 AM on February 17, 2023 [18 favorites]
Fuck safety rules; you get shareholder bonus
You will have limited liability
Like the Oompa Loompa Doompety LLC
posted by lalochezia at 10:35 AM on February 17, 2023 [18 favorites]
came for the smothers brothers reference, was not disappointed.
Lolly doo dum lolly doo dum day.
posted by hearthpig at 10:40 AM on February 17, 2023 [6 favorites]
Lolly doo dum lolly doo dum day.
posted by hearthpig at 10:40 AM on February 17, 2023 [6 favorites]
Did they yell "fire"?
posted by babelfish at 10:43 AM on February 17, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by babelfish at 10:43 AM on February 17, 2023 [8 favorites]
Any word on what superpowers the workers ended up with?
posted by The Tensor at 10:47 AM on February 17, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by The Tensor at 10:47 AM on February 17, 2023 [7 favorites]
"The safety of our associates and outside contractors is a top priority for our business," said the spokesperson.
The fact that somebody had to say that sentence out loud is prima facie evidence that it's not true.
posted by mhoye at 10:48 AM on February 17, 2023 [17 favorites]
The fact that somebody had to say that sentence out loud is prima facie evidence that it's not true.
posted by mhoye at 10:48 AM on February 17, 2023 [17 favorites]
Any word on what superpowers the workers ended up with?
A hard shell, but unfortunately nuts at the core.
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:59 AM on February 17, 2023 [17 favorites]
A hard shell, but unfortunately nuts at the core.
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:59 AM on February 17, 2023 [17 favorites]
I am recalling the death of Unity (formerly Myria) LeJean, at the end of The Thief of Time.
posted by notoriety public at 11:14 AM on February 17, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by notoriety public at 11:14 AM on February 17, 2023 [11 favorites]
I really hope everyone is okay, and I'm glad the company was fined (even if it is but a pittance), but holy shit am I loving y'all's Oompa Loompa songs.
posted by xedrik at 11:21 AM on February 17, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by xedrik at 11:21 AM on February 17, 2023 [7 favorites]
Shareholders should pressure the CEO to demand immediate access to the golden geese in order to make up for lost profit.
posted by mubba at 11:37 AM on February 17, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by mubba at 11:37 AM on February 17, 2023 [2 favorites]
Wait, so those guys in the M&Ms commercials are not animations?
posted by flabdablet at 11:41 AM on February 17, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 11:41 AM on February 17, 2023 [7 favorites]
Oh, bless all of you for thinking of it. I must be outside of the majority in that I immediately thought of the Smothers Brothers instead of Willy Wonka.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 11:47 AM on February 17, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 11:47 AM on February 17, 2023 [4 favorites]
The same Mars, along with owning the VCA vet network and an emergency counterpart, own and operate the Royal Canin dog food line.
Food for thought. Glad those guys made it out.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:51 AM on February 17, 2023 [2 favorites]
Food for thought. Glad those guys made it out.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:51 AM on February 17, 2023 [2 favorites]
Like "I want to die via vat of chocolate" sounds like a fun joke, but in reality, probably is not.
My brother and I used to say that drowning in beer was like heaven but ... this isn't heaven, this sucks
posted by aubilenon at 12:53 PM on February 17, 2023 [2 favorites]
My brother and I used to say that drowning in beer was like heaven but ... this isn't heaven, this sucks
posted by aubilenon at 12:53 PM on February 17, 2023 [2 favorites]
I immediately thought of the Smothers Brothers
I did as well and came here to link to them, only to find that the OP was way ahead of us (as were a few other commenters).
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:56 PM on February 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
I did as well and came here to link to them, only to find that the OP was way ahead of us (as were a few other commenters).
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:56 PM on February 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
Man, why you guys gotta make your chocolate on Mars?
posted by phooky at 1:39 PM on February 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by phooky at 1:39 PM on February 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
Oh holy shit, it was Dove chocolate.
brb updating resume
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:21 PM on February 17, 2023 [4 favorites]
brb updating resume
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:21 PM on February 17, 2023 [4 favorites]
Curiously this reminded me of a TV play by Palin and Jones that I now realise I saw fifty years ago. With slightly different outcomes.
"We let people into our Secrets."
posted by Grangousier at 3:04 PM on February 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
"We let people into our Secrets."
posted by Grangousier at 3:04 PM on February 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
I'm trying to imagine the scenario where outside contractors are working on the production line of a factory and lo and behold they are not a union shop.
posted by srboisvert at 3:51 PM on February 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by srboisvert at 3:51 PM on February 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
Came here to post the same joke that eye of newt did. Most Mars chocolate is the glue for candy bars, but Dove is the good shit.
On the sidebar of the FPP article is this account from one of several immigrants who attempted to stow away into the UK in a tanker of liquid chocolate. As you can imagine, it was nice at first and then got old pretty quick. They all made it out okay, more or less.
posted by Countess Elena at 4:06 PM on February 17, 2023 [2 favorites]
On the sidebar of the FPP article is this account from one of several immigrants who attempted to stow away into the UK in a tanker of liquid chocolate. As you can imagine, it was nice at first and then got old pretty quick. They all made it out okay, more or less.
posted by Countess Elena at 4:06 PM on February 17, 2023 [2 favorites]
Dove as in the past tense of dive?
posted by aubilenon at 4:22 PM on February 17, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by aubilenon at 4:22 PM on February 17, 2023 [8 favorites]
This goes out to anyone who's every worked in a food-processing facility. If you know, you know.
I had the pleasure of working in a non-unionized facility for a couple of seasons (it was a vegetable processing plant).
Without really good occupational health and safety oversight, they're death traps in the same way a steel foundry or any other properly "industrial" workplace can be. They're full of blades, high-pressure steam or hot water, tanks of corrosive agents, both basic and acidic, slippery surfaces, fast-moving conveyor systems, vehicles like forklifts zipping about, large vessels that require cleaning, often using high-pressure steam with a short window of time to complete the work before production has to restart, and so on.
I saw a couple of near-amputations, and someone being wheeled out after a scalding on the canning line. Have you ever seen what someone looks like after being scalded? You don't want to.
With regard to large vessels: without proper safety planning, there's literally no quick way out of a tall stainless steel vessel if shit goes south, whether it's full or empty. And if it's full, there's an odds-on chance that it's full of something skin-meltingly hot. Cleaning large vessels like this (or even worse, large vessels with moving mixing parts) is exceedingly dangerous work (c.f. deaths cleaning dough mixers in commercial bakeries). Guess what happens when the company hires young people, temporary foreign workers, or vulnerable undocumented workers as non-employee "contractors" who might not know their rights, be hesitant to invoke them if they are, and/or aren't trained, and the company simultaneously cheaps out or fails to maintain power lockouts and other important safety features?
This is what happened in the Mars Wrigley incident in question: "The host employer did not provide the outside employer with the correct energy control procedure or work authorization permit that included verification of flowable material isolation given the permitted entry, on or about June 9, 2022."
"As always, we appreciate [the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's] collaborative approach to working with us to conduct the after-action review."
I know that's communications boilerplate from the company, but the fact they're calling it "collaboration" really suggests an absence of truly consequential enforcement.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 4:56 PM on February 17, 2023 [24 favorites]
I had the pleasure of working in a non-unionized facility for a couple of seasons (it was a vegetable processing plant).
Without really good occupational health and safety oversight, they're death traps in the same way a steel foundry or any other properly "industrial" workplace can be. They're full of blades, high-pressure steam or hot water, tanks of corrosive agents, both basic and acidic, slippery surfaces, fast-moving conveyor systems, vehicles like forklifts zipping about, large vessels that require cleaning, often using high-pressure steam with a short window of time to complete the work before production has to restart, and so on.
I saw a couple of near-amputations, and someone being wheeled out after a scalding on the canning line. Have you ever seen what someone looks like after being scalded? You don't want to.
With regard to large vessels: without proper safety planning, there's literally no quick way out of a tall stainless steel vessel if shit goes south, whether it's full or empty. And if it's full, there's an odds-on chance that it's full of something skin-meltingly hot. Cleaning large vessels like this (or even worse, large vessels with moving mixing parts) is exceedingly dangerous work (c.f. deaths cleaning dough mixers in commercial bakeries). Guess what happens when the company hires young people, temporary foreign workers, or vulnerable undocumented workers as non-employee "contractors" who might not know their rights, be hesitant to invoke them if they are, and/or aren't trained, and the company simultaneously cheaps out or fails to maintain power lockouts and other important safety features?
This is what happened in the Mars Wrigley incident in question: "The host employer did not provide the outside employer with the correct energy control procedure or work authorization permit that included verification of flowable material isolation given the permitted entry, on or about June 9, 2022."
"As always, we appreciate [the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's] collaborative approach to working with us to conduct the after-action review."
I know that's communications boilerplate from the company, but the fact they're calling it "collaboration" really suggests an absence of truly consequential enforcement.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 4:56 PM on February 17, 2023 [24 favorites]
And to be clear, I typed all of my above comment with the Augustus Gloop song in my head because I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at least 20 times, as a conservative estimate.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:12 PM on February 17, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:12 PM on February 17, 2023 [4 favorites]
It's better than it used to be.
A long time ago I was a 'crisis counselor' in an ER, and one night a family and their neighbor who had come in because of erratic behavior of the family's ~20 year old eldest son were referred to me.
The neighbor was there to "interpret" for the family matriarch, a German immigrant who spoke otherwise excellent English with a thick accent. At first I felt impatient with the neighbor, but there was something ineffably sweet about listening to the German woman, then turning to listen to the neighbor, earnestly and with limitless good will shining through her face, get things majorly wrong most of the time, and then exchanging knowing glances with the German woman.
Turned out that the son, who was doing all kinds of bizarre things like running around the house or the neighborhood in the middle of the night in his underwear, brandishing a hammer and shouting incomprehensible phrases, and who had very limited use of language at any time, had been working in the Midwest at a company which made Aqua Velva, a 'bracing' aftershave which would burn the crap out of you if you had razor burn or a nick.
They mixed the stuff in huge tanks, and the son's job was to go into the emptied tanks with a respirator and a pressure washer and get them ready for a new batch. One night the respirator failed or was knocked loose, he collapsed inside and wasn’t found until the next shift came on in the morning.
The company bought him a ticket, put him on a bus to Seattle, and he somehow made it to his mother's front door. They had no idea what had happened to him until his roommate, who also worked for the company, called them a couple of days later.
When I asked him what had happened to him, the best he could manage was, haltingly, 'the coming of the wrong … in the long ago!'
posted by jamjam at 8:51 PM on February 17, 2023 [13 favorites]
A long time ago I was a 'crisis counselor' in an ER, and one night a family and their neighbor who had come in because of erratic behavior of the family's ~20 year old eldest son were referred to me.
The neighbor was there to "interpret" for the family matriarch, a German immigrant who spoke otherwise excellent English with a thick accent. At first I felt impatient with the neighbor, but there was something ineffably sweet about listening to the German woman, then turning to listen to the neighbor, earnestly and with limitless good will shining through her face, get things majorly wrong most of the time, and then exchanging knowing glances with the German woman.
Turned out that the son, who was doing all kinds of bizarre things like running around the house or the neighborhood in the middle of the night in his underwear, brandishing a hammer and shouting incomprehensible phrases, and who had very limited use of language at any time, had been working in the Midwest at a company which made Aqua Velva, a 'bracing' aftershave which would burn the crap out of you if you had razor burn or a nick.
They mixed the stuff in huge tanks, and the son's job was to go into the emptied tanks with a respirator and a pressure washer and get them ready for a new batch. One night the respirator failed or was knocked loose, he collapsed inside and wasn’t found until the next shift came on in the morning.
The company bought him a ticket, put him on a bus to Seattle, and he somehow made it to his mother's front door. They had no idea what had happened to him until his roommate, who also worked for the company, called them a couple of days later.
When I asked him what had happened to him, the best he could manage was, haltingly, 'the coming of the wrong … in the long ago!'
posted by jamjam at 8:51 PM on February 17, 2023 [13 favorites]
I’m just glad I don’t need to worry about committing cannibalism to get some chocolate this time….
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 12:56 AM on February 18, 2023
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 12:56 AM on February 18, 2023
Are anymore details available? I'm curious whether cutting the tank open to rescue the worker was from Mars' rescue plan or something adhoc. I mean initially I was shocked they couldn't handle a rescue from the top but having thought about it having a gas axe at the ready that they could use to cut a door into a tank in an emergency actually could be pretty smart. Instantly drains the tank and provides good access to the rescuee.
posted by Mitheral at 6:50 AM on February 18, 2023
posted by Mitheral at 6:50 AM on February 18, 2023
As a safety manager that worked in a food plant that utilized chocolate tanks, I can almost guarantee it was ad hoc. I'm guessing they didn't have any written Confined Space procedures, and if they did, "chop a hole in the bottom of the tank" was not part of their documented rescue plan.
I keep my eyes open on LinkedIn, and the Mars plants near me (Chicago) seem to always be hiring safety people, which is not a good sign. I'm glad they were able to get these people out.
posted by Sparky Buttons at 7:20 AM on February 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
I keep my eyes open on LinkedIn, and the Mars plants near me (Chicago) seem to always be hiring safety people, which is not a good sign. I'm glad they were able to get these people out.
posted by Sparky Buttons at 7:20 AM on February 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
A $15,000 fine for this seems grossly inadequate.
posted by sepviva at 9:33 AM on February 18, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by sepviva at 9:33 AM on February 18, 2023 [7 favorites]
Thanks very much for your excellent and eponstyrical-ish comment, mandolin(e) conspiracy. Labor unions are instrumental in pushing for safety regulations, then requiring that they be enforced. Dying in a vat of chocolate would make for an interesting obituary; it's apparently not uncommon on pork farms for workers to die in vats of pig waste, and dying from work related injuries is fucking horrible and way too common.
It's better than it used to be, but the Right has been successful at getting rid of a lot of unions; they're committed to fighting unions, safety and all regulations tooth and nail. This Iowa proposal is over the top, but it's just the ugliest tip of the iceberg.
posted by theora55 at 10:37 AM on February 18, 2023
It's better than it used to be, but the Right has been successful at getting rid of a lot of unions; they're committed to fighting unions, safety and all regulations tooth and nail. This Iowa proposal is over the top, but it's just the ugliest tip of the iceberg.
posted by theora55 at 10:37 AM on February 18, 2023
They mixed the stuff in huge tanks, and the son's job was to go into the emptied tanks with a respirator and a pressure washer and get them ready for a new batch. One night the respirator failed or was knocked loose, he collapsed inside and wasn’t found until the next shift came on in the morning.
The company bought him a ticket, put him on a bus to Seattle, and he somehow made it to his mother's front door. They had no idea what had happened to him until his roommate, who also worked for the company, called them a couple of days later.
When I asked him what had happened to him, the best he could manage was, haltingly, 'the coming of the wrong … in the long ago!'
When I worked at the Molson Brewery in Toronto a probationary full-time hire drowned in an empty tanker of CO2. The story was that he dropped his safety glasses into the tank and went in to grab them (being worried the mistake would affect his probation) and was overcome by the residual CO2 and could not get out. He was discovered dead in the tanker. His work partner who should have been there was a full-timer who had fucked off and left the probie to do the work alone. It's part of why I say I am 90% pro-union but 10% hate them because I understand the need for collective labor power but I've always been a temp in a union shop - paying the full dues but catching all the shit the union "brothers" rain down like the worst sort of bullying older siblings with none of the union protections.
posted by srboisvert at 11:03 AM on February 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
The company bought him a ticket, put him on a bus to Seattle, and he somehow made it to his mother's front door. They had no idea what had happened to him until his roommate, who also worked for the company, called them a couple of days later.
When I asked him what had happened to him, the best he could manage was, haltingly, 'the coming of the wrong … in the long ago!'
When I worked at the Molson Brewery in Toronto a probationary full-time hire drowned in an empty tanker of CO2. The story was that he dropped his safety glasses into the tank and went in to grab them (being worried the mistake would affect his probation) and was overcome by the residual CO2 and could not get out. He was discovered dead in the tanker. His work partner who should have been there was a full-timer who had fucked off and left the probie to do the work alone. It's part of why I say I am 90% pro-union but 10% hate them because I understand the need for collective labor power but I've always been a temp in a union shop - paying the full dues but catching all the shit the union "brothers" rain down like the worst sort of bullying older siblings with none of the union protections.
posted by srboisvert at 11:03 AM on February 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
Back in the day National Lampoon was able to fill a monthly page that chronicled these mishaps called "Vats of Foaming Goo." Funny along the lines of the Darwin Awards, don't think too hard about the reality of it.
posted by condesita at 1:15 PM on February 18, 2023
posted by condesita at 1:15 PM on February 18, 2023
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