The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (VDLI) reduced penalties by 54.2% for violations at Gourmet Provisions LLC. A tragic forklift fatality occurred on 13 April 2010.

The Waynesboro firm does business as Matt's Supreme Cones, mixing ingredients and creating conical wafers and waffle-texture shapes to hold ice cream.

The size of the proposed penalty surprised Matt Scheeren, general manager of Gourmet Provisions.

"Maybe we can get some adjustments," Scheeren wrote in an email to Nancy Mujica, VDLI health and safety compliance officer in the Verona field office.

VDLI conducted an extensive four-month investigation following the fatality and kept the ongoing case file internal and, therefore, unavailable to the public until recently.

Following the investigation, VDLI vacated, reclassified and deleted some of the original citations. As a result, the "total penalty is thereby reduced from USD19,670 to USD9,000", according to an informal settlement agreement that Scheeren for the company and Paul Schilinski, regional director for the agency, signed on 28 October 2010. The amount is payable in instalments.

A police report identifies Jose Hernandez, then 22, as the operator of an electric cushion-tyre Daewoo rider model BC18T forklift with a three-stage mast and a rated load capacity of 2,900 lb. (1,305 kg).

VDLI says the operator placed a barrel of lecithin emulsifier onto a rack in the mixing room in order to begin the mixing process. He backed up with the forks elevated to manoeuvre out of the room and clear the mixers that were beside the barrel.

"The operator did not keep a clear view of the path of travel since the mast of the fork truck struck the top of the wall opening as the operator was traveling backwards", VDLI says. "The wall collapsed outward causing (cinder-block) debris to be thrown several feet onto the production floor" causing fatal blunt force trauma head injuries to an employee. Police say the victim was product packer Rosa Hernandez-Arellano, 37, mother of the forklift operator.

VDLI elaborates: "At the time of the accident, the mast was extended in the air greater than the opening of 10 ft. (3 m) which caused the mast to strike the doorway opening as the operator was traveling backwards out of the mixing room into the production area. The operator did not keep a clear view of his path of travel to include all sides of the fork truck which would encompass the mast that struck the opening."

The VDLI report notes: "Employer has now implemented 'no forklift zones' . . . Most activities will be done using pallet jacks, or (the) employer will move product after working hours. Employer has also implemented a fork truck safety checklist which will be completed daily and documented before the lift is used."

To fulfil a request from investigators, Scheeren says he supplied the department with a September 1998 copy of a 112-page operation and maintenance manual for forklift models BC15T, BC18T and BC20T.

According to records, VDLI purchased an operator's and maintenance manual for the model BC18T for USD63.20 from the Richmond, Virginia facility of dealership Alliance Material Handling on 22 September 2010.

The due date for Gourmet Provisions' completion of payments under a no-interest arrangement is 13 October 2013.

Homestead Materials Handling Co, a division of the Roanoke, Virginia-based Jefferds Corp, performed regular maintenance tasks on the Daewoo and, both several years ago and in the post-accident period, provided operator training at Gourmet Provisions.

In the aftermath of the incident, the Waynesboro operation of Twins Bio-Recovery LLC charged Gourmet Provisions for its properly disposing of regulated and non-regulated waste at the site. The firm says it "cleaned up blood and bodily fluids from an industrial accident." The 14 April 2010 invoice listed USD1,203.50 for materials and USD1,070 for labour.

In addition to VDLI, the case drew the attention of the Waynesboro city police department, the Virginia Department of Health's office of the chief medical examiner and the US Occupational Health and Safety Administration.

Under a Forkliftaction.com News freedom of information request, the VDLI supplied hundreds of pages relating to most aspects of the accident investigation and citation resolutions.

A warning on the forklift reads: "Watch out for pedestrians and obstructions. Check overhead clearances."