Current:Home > Contact-usMississippi poultry plant settles with OSHA after teen’s 2023 death-LoTradeCoin
Mississippi poultry plant settles with OSHA after teen’s 2023 death
View Date:2024-12-24 00:29:14
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi poultry processing plant has agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor that requires it to pay $164,814 in fines and put in place enhanced safety measures following the death of a 16-year-old boy at the facility.
The agreement, announced Friday in a news release, comes after an investigation of Mar-Jac Poultry by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration into the death of an underaged worker who was pulled into a machine as they cleaned it July 14, 2023.
“Tragically, a teenage boy died needlessly before Mar-Jac Poultry took required steps to protect its workers,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Kurt Petermeyer in Atlanta. “This settlement demands the company commit to a safer workplace environment and take tangible actions to protect their employees from well-known hazards. Enhanced supervision and increased training can go a long way toward minimizing risks faced by workers in meat processing facilities.”
“Mar-Jac was aware of these safety problems for years and had been warned and fined by OSHA, yet did nothing. Hopefully, Mar-Jac will follow through this time so that no other worker is killed in such a senseless manner,” Jim Reeves, an attorney for the victim’s family, told WHLT-TV.
The victim’s family sued Mar-Jac Poultry MS, LLC, and Onin Staffing earlier this year. The lawsuit alleges that Perez was killed due to Mar-Jac ignoring safety regulations and not turning off machinery during sanitation. The suit also claims Onin Staffing was negligent in illegally assigning the 16-year-old to work at the plant.
Headquartered in Gainesville, Georgia, Mar-Jac Poultry has raised live birds for poultry production since 1954 at facilities in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi for food service customers in the U.S and abroad, the DOL’s news release said.
A telephone call Friday to the company seeking comment about the settlement was not answered.
veryGood! (581)
Related
- Reds honor Pete Rose with a 14-hour visitation at Great American Ball Park
- Trump Weakens Endangered Species Protections, Making It Harder to Consider Effects of Climate Change
- EPA’s Methane Estimates for Oil and Gas Sector Under Investigation
- From Antarctica to the Oceans, Climate Change Damage Is About to Get a Lot Worse, IPCC Warns
- Colorado police shot, kill mountain lion after animal roamed on school's campus
- 'Ghost villages' of the Himalayas foreshadow a changing India
- Why Vanderpump Rules' Lala Kent and Scheana Shay's Bond Over Motherhood Is as Good as Gold
- Jennifer Lawrence Showcases a Red Hot Look at 2023 Cannes Film Festival
- Parts of Southern California under quarantine over oriental fruit fly infestation
- Transcript: Sen. Richard Blumenthal on Face the Nation, June 18, 2023
Ranking
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Take the Day Off
- A Good Friday funeral in Texas. Baby Halo's parents had few choices in post-Roe Texas
- A new flu is spilling over from cows to people in the U.S. How worried should we be?
- Kansas doctor dies while saving his daughter from drowning on rafting trip in Colorado
- Vegas Sphere reports revenue decline despite hosting UFC 306, Eagles residency
- How to Get Rid of a Pimple Fast: 10 Holy Grail Solutions That Work in Hours
- MLB power rankings: Orioles in rare air, knocking Rays out of AL East lead for first time
- One month after attack in congressman's office, House panel to consider more security spending
Recommendation
-
New York races to revive Manhattan tolls intended to fight traffic before Trump can block them
-
‘China’s Erin Brockovich’ Goes Global to Hold Chinese Companies Accountable
-
New lawsuit provides most detailed account to date of alleged Northwestern football hazing
-
These Amazon Travel Essentials Will Help You Stick To Your Daily Routine on Vacation
-
Repair Hair Damage In Just 90 Seconds With This Hack from WNBA Star Kamilla Cardoso
-
Gymshark's Spring Clearance Styles Include $15 Sports Bras, $22 Leggings & More Must-Have Athleticwear
-
This Week in Clean Economy: Green Cards for Clean Energy Job Creators
-
Duracell With a Twist: Researchers Find Fix for Grid-Scale Battery Storage