Twinkies maker Hostess Brands was fined $300,000 by federal safety regulators after an employee at one of the firm’s facilities in Chicago had their fingertip severed on the job.
The Hostess worker suffered the horrific injury last December while attempting to reassemble a pump, according to a June 9 letter from the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) — the existence of which was first cited by Insider.
OSHA faulted Hostess Brands for failing to institute proper safety procedures that protect workers from injury.
The Post has sought comment from Hostess Brands and OSHA.
“OSHA frequently finds that amputations and other injuries occur when manufacturers fail to make sure machine safety procedures are followed and employees are trained properly,” Sukhvir Kaur, a Chicago-area OSHA director, said in a statement to Insider.
In the letter, OSHA tallied seven safety violations of federal safety standards, recommending civil fines totaling north of $298,000.
Hostess, which was founded in 1925, filed for bankruptcy in 2004 before private equity investors formed Hostess Brands in 2013. It also makes popular snacks like HoHos, Ding Dong and Sno Ball.
The company’s stock was trading down 0.12% as of 12:30 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday.