January 3, 2024

Pepsi Guam Bottling agrees to pay $132K in penalties, implement enhanced workplace safety program after exposing workers to amputation hazards

Settlement with OSHA includes creation of joint employee-management safety commitee

TAMUNING, GUAM ‒ The U.S. Department of Labor has reached a settlement agreement with Pepsi Guam Bottling after an inspection by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration found the company exposed employees to amputation and other serious injuries.

The settlement with OSHA before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission required Pepsi Guam Bottling to pay $132,591 in penalties, abate the safety failures found in OSHA's investigation and implement a comprehensive safety and health program to protect workers moving forward. An independent federal agency, OSHRC decides contested citations or penalties OSHA issues to employers after workplace inspections.

The agreement to enhance its safety culture requires Pepsi Guam Bottling to: 

• Develop a written, comprehensive safety and health program.
• Allow warrantless inspections of its facilities at any time during the next 12 months.
• Form a safety and health committee between management and employees.
• Provide heat stress training to its employees.

"Pepsi Guam Bottling's agreement to boost its workplace safety protocols will help protect employees and put workers on an equal footing thanks to their inclusion in a new safety and health committee," explained OSHA Regional Administrator James Wulff in San Francisco. "OSHA will closely monitor the terms of this settlement agreement and provide any assistance needed or required to ensure compliance."

"Empowering workers to take action on workplace safety is critically important," said Regional Solicitor Marc Pilotin in San Francisco. "The creation of a joint employee-management safety committee to improve this company's safety culture in Guam will be crucial to prevent avoidable injuries or calamities."

The settlement follows an OSHA inspection in October 2022 that determined the employer exposed workers to amputation and other serious injuries by leaving the machines' guard doors open and permitting a safety proximity switch to be deactivated. The agency found the company failed to protect workers from operating machine parts and proposed penalties totaling $180,807 for one willful violation, one repeat violation and six serious violations.

Learn more about OSHA.

Media Contacts:

Mike Petersen, (415) 625-2630, petersen.michael.w@dol.gov
Jose Carnevali, (415) 625-2631, Carnevali.jose@dol.gov

Release Number: 24-8-SAN