Last summer, OSHA fined a U.S. poultry company more than $200,000 after a teenager too young to work at a Mississippi factory died while cleaning dangerous equipment.
In July, 16-year-old Duvan Thomas Perez was cleaning out a deboning machine at the Marjak poultry plant in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, about 120 miles north of the Gulf Coast.
What happened next was like a scene from a horror movie. As Perez was cleaning, the machine, which was still connected to an energy source, accidentally turned on and “the boy was trapped between the rotating shaft and sprocket and pulled in,” officials said. statement The U.S. Department of Labor announced this last week. Perez He died from his injuries.
”[L]Despite the presence of a supervisor on site, lockout/tagout procedures were not utilized to disconnect power to the machine, and lockout/tagout procedures were not utilized to prevent the machine from unintentionally starting during cleaning. “Tag-out devices were also not used,” the statement said.
After investigating Perez's death, OSHA cited Mar-Jack Poultry with “14 serious violations and three non-serious violations.” These include failing to implement safety procedures regarding turning off machines or preventing sudden restarts of machines during cleaning. OSHA also fined the company $212,646.
“Mar Jack Poultry Co. recognizes how dangerous the machinery we use can be if safety standards are not in place to prevent serious injury or death,” OSHA Regional Management said Kurt Petermeier. “The company's inaction led directly to this terrible tragedy, and many are mourning this child's avoidable death.”
Mr. Perez was an immigrant from Guatemala, but it is unclear whether he was in the United States legally or illegally. He had been in this country for six years when he died.
Perez was initially employed by Onin Staffing and later signed with Mar Jack. According to reports, Perez used his identity as a 32-year-old man to circumvent a state law that prohibits people under 18 from working in poultry plants due to the danger.
Immediately after her death, Marjak denied knowing she was a minor before the accident. He also argued that third-party staffing companies like Onin have a responsibility to ensure that employees meet the necessary qualifications to work within the factory.
OSHA's Wage and Hour Division has opened an investigation into this matter for possible violations of child labor laws. That investigation is still pending.
Perez's death was tragic, but it was the second fatality at Hattiesburg's Ma Jack poultry plant in recent years. In May 2021, another employee died after his sleeve got caught in a machine and he was tied to a running “support and machine merry-go-round.”
“Following the fatal accident in May 2021, Mar-Jack Poultry should have implemented strict safety standards within its facilities,” Petermeyer added. “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, which is based in Gainesville, Ga., and has plants throughout the Bay Area, must comply, challenge OSHA's findings with the Occupational Safety and Health Review Board, or file a lawsuit with OSHA. You have 15 business days to request an informal meeting. Ma Jack did not respond to the New York Post's request for comment.
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