For the second time in two years, a work-related death has occurred at a poultry processing plant in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reported that a 16-year-old sanitation worker died after being pulled into a machine.
The DOL news release stated that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found that a contract worker at the Mar-Jac Poultry MS, LLC plant was performing a deep clean of the deboning area on July 14, 2023 when the incident happened. The machine still had energy when the employee was caught in the rotating shaft and sprockets and pulled in, resulting in his death. An investigation revealed that lockout/tagout practices were not followed; these would have cut off power to the machine. Additionally, a lockout/tagout device was not used to prevent the machine from inadvertently starting during cleaning.
"Mar-Jac Poultry is aware of how dangerous their machinery can be when safety standards are not in place to prevent serious injury and death. The company's inaction has directly led to this terrible tragedy, which has left many mourning this child's preventable death," said OSHA Regional Administrator Kurt Petermeyer.
The DOL disclosed that Mar-Jac Poultry was fined $212,646 for 14 serious and three other-than-serious violations including: failing to ensure machinery retained guarding to prevent employees from entering danger zones while machinery was operating; leaving open holes in 480-volt electrical cabinets which exposed workers to electrical hazards; and preventing workers from using portable ladders incorrectly to access elevated work surfaces, thereby exposing them to fall hazards.
According to the release, an open child labor investigation by the department's Wage and Hour Division is ongoing. It was also noted that the company had previously been cited in May of 2021 after an employee was killed when their shirt sleeve hooked onto a machine and pinned their body against the support and the machine's carousel.
Petermeyer added, "Following the fatal incident in May 2021, Mar-Jac Poultry should have enforced strict safety standards in its facility. However, approximately two years later, nothing has changed and the company continues to treat employee safety as an afterthought, putting its workers at risk. No worker should be placed in a preventable, dangerous situation, let alone a child."
