A transformer manufacturer in Pocatello, Idaho, is facing nearly $1 million in citations for a slew of safety violations — including violations the company didn’t correct after inspections a year earlier.
Virginia Transformer Corporation (VTCU) operated cranes with defective brakes, failed to provide appropriate respirators or gloves, exposed workers to fall hazards, and performed abrasive blasting without taking the required measures to prevent inhalation of hazardous dust, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found.
The $986,888 fine was the third largest penalty issued by OSHA in 2025, and the largest issued in Idaho in at least 25 years.
The OSHA citations describe a poorly maintained facility and damaged equipment. Workers were still operating a Shaw-Box crane to lift three-ton steel plates even after inspections found a damaged latch that was secured with wire. A damaged door to a sandblasting booth preventing it from closing and allowed dust to escape the booth. A grinder’s electrical plug was taped to an extension cord with exposed conductors.
The citations stem from OSHA inspections conducted in June 2025. Some of the hazards identified in those inspections were the same that had been found in inspections a year earlier, including overhead cranes with broken switches and defective bridge brakes.
Workers said there were still other safety lapses at the plant that haven’t yet been penalized by OSHA. Three workers who spoke on the condition of anonymity described multiple incidents in which testing crews failed to clear workers out of the area before starting electrical tests on the transformers.
In December, two employees working on a transformer were hit by electric shocks when crews conducted a simulated lightning strike on another transformer just feet away. One worker was sent to the hospital.
Another worker suffered severe burns after a similar incident earlier in the year, an employee told the Labor Press.
Virginia Transformer operates four transformer plants in the United States, including the Idaho plant it purchased in 2003, and two plants in Mexico. The company makes transformers that are used by electric utility providers, industrial manufacturing operations, data centers, and more.
The manufacturing process for transformers includes essentially cooking the core. The large rolling door of the oven is supposed to be opened slowly to allow the smoke to escape through a vent, but one worker described a recent incident where the door was opened quickly, filling the building with smoke while employees continued working. Another employee said that when he first started at the plant, the vapors from the core cooling down had stuck in his windpipe, leaving a lingering feeling of needing to clear his throat.
Workers at the plant unionized with International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 302 in 2022 but have yet to reach a first contract. Local 302 declined to comment on the fine, citing ongoing bargaining.
Virginia Transformer did not respond to a request for comment.
One worker said others had been disciplined or fired for speaking out against safety violations, particularly since the OSHA inspections.
The company had also implemented mandatory overtime, which workers said would only increase the safety risk.
Next to a mandatory overtime notice posted on a wall in the plant, someone posted a response blaming management: “Ask yourselves this: If they were any good at their jobs, why then do we not have the necessary materials to do our jobs, why the constant need for overtime? Management will gladly sacrifice your health and safety for their personal benefit. Don’t let them.”
