In the end, the life of Anfesa Marie Galaktionoff was worth $7,000.

At least, that is the penalty assessed by the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services Occupational Safety and Health Administration against the Western Sugar Cooperative for the Jan. 4 death of Galaktionoff.

Hayley McKee, a public information officer and policy administrator for the state Department of Workforce Services, said the $7,000 penalty was “the maximum allowable penalty” for the violation that led to Galaktionoff’s horrific death.

An OSHA inspection — the first one ever at that plant — revealed an opening in the grating above the beet wheel processing pit led to the death. Galaktionoff, a mechanic’s helper from Deaver, fell into the pit and was killed; her body was not discovered for hours.

Debris and foam buildup on the walkway made it difficult to see the unguarded opening. The 28-year-old woman — her family and friends called her “Ky” — walked into the opening, fell into the pit and was killed.

Western Sugar was assessed another $37,500 in other penalties for 12 violations at the plant, meaning the fatal accident led to $44,500 in fines.

The initial recommendation was $71,000 in penalties, but Western Sugar asked for those to be lowered. During a closed-door “informal process,” according to McKee, the reduced figure was agreed upon.

While the cooperative says it values worker safety, the facts suggest otherwise.

The plant reopened the day after the fatal accident. It took the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to come in Jan. 12 and order it closed until Jan. 24 while a complete clean-up was performed. Several tons of animal feed produced at the plant were recalled, since it may have been contaminated.

All this time, Western Sugar was “very anxious to get the factory going again,” according to its spokesman, Kent Wimmer. While there were beets to be processed, we thought worker safety was moving to the front of the things to be anxious about.

But instead, 39 more violations were discovered during full inspections at Western Sugar’s plants in Lovell and Torrington in February, just a month after Galaktionoff’s death. It was not the first time the Torrington plant had been cited.

The February inspections led to proposed penalties totaling $194,000. But those remain open cases and may be reduced. We’ll watch what happens.

“This tragic loss of life could have been prevented. The employer failed to properly implement OSHA safety standards that require adequate guarding around floor openings,” said Joan Evans, the director of the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services. “The DWS OSHA investigation also revealed a variety of similar violations in many areas at the work site regarding inadequate railings and guarding.”

Western Sugar seems to have learned from this tragedy.

It will have all its employees attend 30 hours of safety training on hazard awareness and undertake a self-inspection program, reporting to the state periodically. As we worked on this editorial, the company issued a release stating that it has invested about $7 million in what it termed “capital and maintenance improvements with a focus on safety,” and it pledged to do more in 2015.

The creation of a new company safety plan, the addition of a safety manager and other steps to ensure workers are not put at risk are also encouraging signs.

Sadly, the fatal accident at the Lovell factory is hardly the exception in Wyoming.

The Cowboy State has been at the top of the list for worker fatalities for a decade or more. That’s hardly a position any state should hold with pride. The lion’s share of worker deaths occur during travel; seat belt use and other factors must be considered in the deadly toll.

Timothy Ryan resigned as the state’s workplace safety epidemiologist at the end of 2011, saying the matter was not being taken seriously. “Safety occurs as an afterthought,” Ryan said in a revealing report to the governor.

Brett Collins, 20, was killed at a construction site near Sheridan where he was working in 2012. The penalty that was imposed on COP Wyoming LLC after all negotiations and discussions were completed: $6,773.

Does that total ring a bell? Is that all the lives of workers are valued at in Wyoming?

In 2007, the death rate was 17 per 100,000 workers — four times the national average. The number is headed in the right direction, but it still is far too high.

Gov. Matt Mead approved hiring seven more full-time Wyoming OSHA safety consultants and the Legislature set aside $500,000 for a grant program available to employers who want to establish or improve their own safety programs.

Stiffer penalties and more frequent inspections also are needed. Rep. Mary Throne (D-Cheyenne), a member of the Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Interim Committee, said she will attempt in the upcoming session to mandate larger fines — $50,000, with no room for private discussions to lower it — when a fatality occurs at a jobsite where OSHA regulations were violated.

The idea is to sanction companies for what happens in the wake of a violation — such as a worker death — and not just for failing to follow the law. That may get the attention of companies.

The puny penalties imposed now do not seem to be working, and allowing them to be negotiated behind closed doors doesn’t provide much confidence in the process. That also must change.

Admittedly, there is a lot of dangerous work being done in Wyoming. This is a rough, tough place to live and work. But it’s time — past time — to make things a lot easier, and safer, for our workers.