A Mississippi chicken plant where a minor worker died violently after being pulled into machinery over the summer is fully responsible for the horrific incident, federal regulators have ruled after an investigation.
“Neglected safety standards” at the Mar-Jac Chicken plant in Hattiesburg directly led to the death of Duvan Tomas Perez in July, investigators from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ruled last week.
“Mar-Jac Poultry realizes how dangerous the machinery they use can be when safety standards are not set to prevent serious injury and death,” OSHA Regional Administrator Kurt Petermeyer said in a statement.
“The company’s inaction directly led to this terrible tragedy, which has left many grieving over the preventable death of this child.”
Perez, a 16-year-old Guatemalan immigrant who has been in the US for about 6 years, was cleaning a deboning machine at the Mar-Jac plant on July 14 when it suddenly activated and pulled him inside.
Duvan Tomas Perez was just 16 years old when he was pulled into a decompression machine in July and killed
“The teenager was caught in the rotating shaft and sprocket and was pulled in, sustaining fatal injuries,” the OSHA report said.
Investigators found that contrary to proper protocol, the machine was not disconnected from power before cleaning began, and that a failsafe device was intended to prevent the machine from being turned on while cleaning was not in use.
Those basic safety measures were not followed even though a supervisor was present before and during the cleanup, according to OSHA.
Perez’s death was the second fatal accident resulting from improper safety measures at the Mar-Jac plant in two years.
Mar-Jac has been cited for poor safety that resulted in worker deaths by OSHA twice in the last two years on Google Maps
In 2021, a worker died after their sleeve got caught in a machine, pinning the worker next to the machine.
“Following the fatal incident in May 2021 Mar-Jac Poultry should have enforced strict safety standards at its facilities,” Petermeyer said.
“Just about two years later nothing has changed and the company continues to treat employee safety as an afterthought, putting its employees at risk. No worker should be put in a preventable, dangerous situation, let alone a child,” he added.
Mar-Jac was fined $212,646 in penalties for Perez’s death.
Mar-Jac Factory in Hattiesburg, Missouri. Perez, a minor, was employed there in violation of Google Maps labor laws
It’s unclear whether Mar-Jac will also face fines for violating Mississippi’s labor law, which prohibits children under the age of 18 from working in poultry plants because of the dangers involved.
Mar-Jac did not respond to a request for comment.
“Our employees are our family and we always strive to provide them with a safe and pleasant work environment,” says the Mar-Jac website.
“Whether it’s providing ice cream parties for employees or other social events, we recognize the invaluable asset our employees represent.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
