The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is seeking more than $27,000 in penalties against one of the nation's largest pork producers for failing to prevent work injuries at its Guymon, Oklahoma pork processing and packaging facility.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited Seaboard Foods LLC for “one serious health violation for exposing workers to ergonomic hazards associated with repetitive motion and lifting,” a Dec. 2 DOL news release said. The citation followed a six-month OSHA inspection.
“Repetitive motion and overexertion can leave workers with chronic and life-changing medical conditions,” OSHA Area Director Steven A. Kirby, based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, said in the release. “Employers who implement required workplace safety measures, track injuries and identify needed improvements can protect workers from suffering painful, debilitating injuries. We encourage workers to contact us to understand their rights and urge employers to learn how to prevent musculoskeletal disorders.”
Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are among the most frequently reported causes of lost or restricted work time, the release said. They accounted for nearly a third of worker injury and illness cases in 2019.
Seaboard Foods, the nation’s second-largest pork producer, was given 15 business days to comply with the penalties, seek an informal conference or contest OSHA's findings, the release said. OSHA also issued ergonomic and medical-related hazard alerts to Seaboard. The company faces $27,306 in proposed penalties.
Seaboard, headquartered in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, operates two facilities in Guymon, its Seaboard Foods Guymon Pork Processing on Cactus Drive and Seaboard Foods Pork Processing Plant on Yucca Boulevard, according to the company’s website.
Seaboard and Smithfield Foods, the nation’s largest pork producer, both have operations in greater-metro Kansas City, according to a Kansas City Business Journal news story published in April 2018. Two years earlier, the Business Journal referred to Seaboard Foods as “the silent giant of the Kansas City business scene.”
