The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced a settlement with a Mississippi poultry processing plant, Mar-Jac Poultry, following a tragic incident last July where a teenage worker lost his life after being caught in a machine. The plant has agreed to pay $164,814 in fines and enhance safety protocols to safeguard employees from machine-related hazards, as part of the resolution reached with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The settlement stems from an extensive OSHA investigation into the untimely death of a 16-year-old worker who was entangled in a machine while performing cleaning duties at the Hattiesburg facility in July 2023.
Mar-Jac Poultry, headquartered in Gainesville, Georgia, specializes in raising live birds for poultry production across facilities in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi, catering to food service clients domestically and internationally.
As part of the agreement with OSHA, Mar-Jac Poultry is mandated to rectify all violations highlighted by the regulatory body. Specific measures include appointing an additional suitably trained supervisor to oversee the sanitation shift, imparting updated training to employees exposed to lockout/tagout and machine guarding risks, and ensuring that the plant’s manager and safety director undertake OSHA’s 30-hour general industry training. Moreover, plant supervisors are required to complete OSHA’s 10-hour training program.
The company is further obligated to establish a structured system for assigning, identifying, and distributing locks to authorized personnel engaged in lockout/tagout operations, while also revising programs and training materials to align with this directive.
In adherence to the settlement terms, Mar-Jac Poultry is set to conduct a comprehensive risk and hazard assessment to evaluate the safety vulnerabilities and perils associated with existing lockout/tagout procedures during the sanitation shift. This assessment will encompass a thorough examination of any past incidents, near misses, injuries, as well as unexpected machinery start-ups or malfunctions.
Furthermore, the poultry processing plant will conduct monthly lockout/tagout safety audits for the sanitation shift over a one-year period, furnishing OSHA with evidence of the audits conducted and outlining the remedial steps taken to mitigate risks in response to these assessments.
The settlement underscores Mar-Jac Poultry’s commitment to enhancing workplace safety and underscores the importance of stringent safety protocols in industrial settings to prevent tragic accidents and ensure the well-being of all employees.