Is it Guilt?

I have this co-worker.  (echnically, I'm the supervisor) and in the job that needs to be performed, a lot of attention to detail needs to happen.  The items that are processed through the dept has hazardous waste among the normal things.  Our BigBoxStore is anal about policies and procedures being followed.  And for the longest time, there have been errors and mistakes made by my coworker.  I've addressed them, and corrected as needed, or teach/train how to properly follow procedure.  But after three years, nearly every situation has presented itself, and I would expect that an acceptable learning curve.

But at what point do you start to realize that someone else in management needs to know the realities of the situation and step in?

I haven't logged every single infraction - sometimes they're just minor and there's not an issue.  But if the error is found by OSHA or some other regulatory committee (or even our own Regional Compliance Team), there could be fines to our store, up to $50k.

I spoke with management on several different occasions, with detailed information, and they had yet to do anything.  But in my own mind, I couldn't see letting the infractions go, because what if they escalated?  With hazardous product, what if someone got hurt?   If I didn't say anything, would I be held accountable because I didn't say something?  Would the bottom line be my job or theirs?  So I opted to start making notes, and copying management in on them.  They spoke with me yesterday, and had their meeting with my coworker today.

I have to work closely with this individual.
It's pretty clear the detailed info came from me.
It's a safe bet my coworker is not a happy camper.
Thankfully, today was their Friday, so I will have two days working alone.

But now, do I feel guilt because I was doing my job?
I feel nervous about having to work side by side with this person.
I can certainly understand how my coworker feels,
as I've been in those shoes several times before.
We've never been friends, I've never encouraged that aspect of a working relationship.

So how come I feel bad?
*sigh*