A Mississippi slaughterhouse that supplies chicken to companies like Chick-fil-A has been found responsible for the July 2023 death of a 16-year-old sanitation worker who was drawn into the machine, federal officials said.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said in a press release that the fatal accident was the result of “a disregard for safety standards” at the Mar-Jack Poultry MS plant in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, in just two years. He said this was the second time. Leading to death of the worker.
An investigation conducted by OSHA revealed that on July 14, 2023, a 16-year-old contract employee employed by Onin Staffing, LLC was cleaning the boning area of the plant. While the boy was disinfecting the machine, which was still connected to the power supply, he became entangled in the rotating shaft and sprocket and was subsequently pulled in, sustaining fatal injuries.
OSHA investigators found that despite supervisory supervision in and around the area prior to the fatal accident, no lockout/tagout procedures were used to shut off the power and no cleaning was done. They also discovered that no lockout/tagout devices were used to prevent the machines from turning on. Incident.
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The Mar Jack poultry facility in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, was cited after a 16-year-old worker died in July 2023 after being pulled into machinery. (Google Maps)
“Mar Jack Poultry Co. recognizes how dangerous the machinery it uses can be if safety standards are not in place to prevent serious injury or death,” OSHA Regional Management said. said Kurt Petermeier. “The company's inaction led directly to this terrible tragedy, and many are mourning this child's avoidable death.”
As a result, Mar-Jac Poultry was charged with 14 serious violations and fines exceeding $200,000.
The violations accuse the company of failing to ensure that energy management procedures were used to prevent unexpected activation of machines during cleaning. Couldn't confirm that the employee logged out/tagout his device on the machine while cleaning. We were unable to confirm that the energy management procedures include specific steps to block and secure parts of the machine during cleaning. They also did not ensure that protective equipment was in place to prevent employees from entering the hazardous area while the machine was in operation.
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FILE- Meat processing plant. People working in a chicken factory. (St. Petersburg)
Marjak did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's inquiries for this story.
In May 2021, OSHA cited an incident at the same Mar-Jac facility where an employee's shirt sleeve got caught in a machine and was pulled in, resulting in a fatal injury.
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) logo displayed on your smartphone. (Rafael Enrique/SOPA Image/LightRocket, Getty Images)
“Following the fatal accident in May 2021, Mar-Jack Poultry should have implemented strict safety standards within its facilities,” Petermeyer said. “Just over two years later, nothing has changed and the company continues to put its employees at risk by putting their safety on the back burner, putting employees, not to mention children, in preventable danger. It shouldn't be left there.”
Mar-Jac Poultry was founded in 1954 and is based in Gainesville, Georgia. The company has facilities in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia that raise live birds for poultry production and food service.
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OSHA said Mar-Jac has 15 business days after receiving the violation complaint to comply, request a meeting with the agency or contest the findings.
