Virginia regulators are citing six serious forklift-related training, clearance and operational violations and a non-serious flaw after a family-connected death at Gourmet Provisions LLC.

Cynthia Rupert, compliance manager for occupational safety and health at the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry, has proposesd penalties of USD19,670. The dollar amount could change in a final order.

The agency conducted an inspection from 14 April to 9 July at the Waynesboro plant, which does business as Matt's Supreme Cones.

The fatality at the firm's waffle-cone baking plant occurred on 13 April.

An operator backed up a forklift "with the forks in the air, and the fork's mast struck the top of the wall opening causing the (concrete-block) wall to collapse outward", a regulators' citation says. "The victim received fatal blunt force injuries to the head."

Capt Charles Coker with the Waynesboro police department says Jose Hernandez, 22, was operating the forklift, an electric cushion-tyre Daewoo forklift with a 3,500lb (1,575kg) capacity and a three-stage mast. Hernandez brought a barrel of the cooking ingredient lecithin into the mixing room and placed it on a stand

Ironically, the collapsing wall struck and killed the operator's mother, Rosa Hernandez, 37, who also worked in the plant.

Insufficient safe operating distances, non-compliance with the manufacturer's recommended maneuvering limitations, lack of overhead clearance signs and inattentive driving were the major violations. Some problems were corrected during the inspection, but Gourmet Provisions was told to fix others by 8 November to avoid incurring possible additional penalties.

"Because the case is still open, no documents other than the citations are disclosable at this time until the case is a final order of the commissioner of (the department of) labour and industry or the court" under the state's occupational safety and health regulations, says Jane Daffron, legal assistant with the Richmond, Virginia-based department.

No comment was available from the business. "In our American plant, Matt's Supreme Cones combines Dutch tradition with the most modern equipment to bake the tasteful quality ice cream waffle cones", a web posting says about the company's process.