A Mississippi poultry factory where an underage worker was dragged into machinery and beaten to death over the summer was solely responsible for the horrific incident, federal regulators have ruled after an investigation.
A “disregard for safety standards” at Hattiesburg's Mah Jack poultry plant directly led to the death of Duvan Thomas Perez in July, Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators ruled last week.
“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 Petermeyer in a statement.
“The company's inaction led directly to this terrible tragedy, and many are mourning this child's avoidable death.”
Perez, a 16-year-old Guatemalan immigrant who had been in the United States for about six years, was cleaning a deboning machine at the Mar Jac plant on July 14 when the machine suddenly activated and pulled him in.
“The boy became entangled in the rotating shaft and sprocket and was pulled in, sustaining fatal injuries,” the OSHA report states.
Investigators said the machine was not powered down before starting the clean, contrary to proper procedures, and that a fail-safe device was used to prevent the machine from turning on during the clean. I discovered that it had not been done.
OSHA says these basic safety precautions were not followed, even though a supervisor was present before and during the cleaning.
Perez's death was the second fatal accident in the last two years due to inadequate safety measures at the Marjac plant.
In 2021, an employee died after his sleeve got caught in a machine and he was pinned to the side of the machine.
“Following the fatal accident in May 2021, Mar Jack Poultry should have implemented strict safety standards within its facility,” Petermeyer said.
“Just about two years later, nothing has changed and the company continues to put its employees at risk by putting their safety on the back burner. “We shouldn't be put in this situation,” he added.
Mal Jack was fined $212,646 in Perez's death.
It's also unclear whether Marjak will be fined for violating Mississippi labor law, which prohibits children under 18 from working on poultry farms because of the dangers involved.
Ma Jack did not respond to requests for comment.
Mar-Jac's website states, “Our employees are our family and we always strive to provide them with a safe and comfortable work environment.”
“Whether we offer our employees ice cream parties or other social events, we know what a valuable asset our employees are.”
