CONAGRA FOOD INGREDIENTS CO.

According to U.S. Department of Labor enforcement records, CONAGRA FOOD INGREDIENTS CO. — a flour milling facility located at 4545 EAST 64TH. AVE., COMMERCE CITY, CO 80022 — was the subject of a formal OSHA inspection that resulted in 26 citation(s) and cumulative proposed penalties of $40,000.00. The inspection case was opened on 2003-06-25.

The volume of citations issued during this inspection suggests systematic compliance deficiencies rather than isolated incidents. Facilities with 10 or more citations typically face comprehensive abatement requirements and may be subject to follow-up inspections.

BLS Injury Data: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2022), this industry sector has an occupational injury rate of 3.3 per 100 full-time workers — 22% above the national average of 2.7. The sector fatality rate is 2.3 per 100,000 workers.

Industry Benchmark: The total penalty of $40,000.00 is more than 4.7× the national average of $8,527.19 for facilities in the Manufacturing sector (NAICS 311211). This sector encompasses 24,420 inspected facilities nationwide with aggregate penalties totaling $208.2M.

State Context: Within CO, this facility's penalty places it at the 99th percentile among 32,935 inspected facilities. The statewide average penalty is $3,271.13.

Citation Analysis: The inspection produced 26 citations spanning 9 distinct OSHA regulatory standards. The citation breakdown includes: 9 other-than-serious — The violation has a direct relationship to job safety and health but is unlikely to cause death or serious physical harm. 6 serious — A workplace hazard that could cause death or serious physical harm exists, and the employer knew or should have known about the condition.

Enforcement Timeline: Citations were issued beginning November 4, 2003 with the latest abatement deadline set for March 4, 2004. Of the 26 total citations, 14 (54%) have been marked as abated in DOL records, suggesting partial progress toward required corrective actions.

Penalty Assessment: The cumulative penalty of $40,000.00 reflects OSHA's gravity-based penalty calculation methodology, which considers the severity of potential injury, the probability of occurrence, the employer's size, good faith, and violation history. The per-citation average of $1,538.46 falls within the standard penalty range.

The 2003 enforcement action at this Conagra Food Ingredients facility revealed a pervasive breakdown in fundamental machine guarding and walking-working surface safety, indicative of systemic operational neglect rather than isolated mechanical failures. The citation density—specifically the concentration of 1910.212 and 1910.219 violations—points to a chronic failure to shield employees from rotating parts, pulleys, and sprocket drives, which are high-risk entrapment points in grain milling environments. The presence of significant 1910.272 violations further underscores a failure to manage specialized hazards inherent to grain handling, specifically regarding housekeeping and ignition source control. From a compliance perspective, the $40,000 penalty aggregate was substantial for the era, reflecting the high "gravity" scores assigned to multiple items. The recurrence of Serious (S) violations related to floor openings (1910.23) and egress maintenance (1910.37) suggests that management failed to maintain the basic physical integrity of the facility, creating constant fall and entrapment risks for the workforce. The breadth of these citations across electrical, mechanical, and structural standards demonstrates a lack of an effective Safety and Health Management System (SHMS). For an industry where dust explosions and mechanical entanglements are leading causes of fatalities, the patterns identified here signaled a facility operating with high latent risk and insufficient internal auditing protocols.