Current:Home > NewsMar-Jac poultry plant's "inaction" led to death of teen pulled into machine, feds say-LoTradeCoin
Mar-Jac poultry plant's "inaction" led to death of teen pulled into machine, feds say
View Date:2024-12-23 16:35:28
Lax safety standards led to a 16-year-old worker getting pulled into a machine at a poultry plant in Hattiesburg, Mississippi — the second fatality at the facility in just over two years, the Department of Labor said on Tuesday.
The teenage sanitation employee at the Mar-Jac Poultry processing plant died on July 14, 2023, after getting caught in a rotating shaft in the facility's deboning area, according to the agency. Procedures to disconnect power to the machine and prevent it from unintentionally starting during the cleaning were not followed despite a manager supervising the area, federal safety investigators found.
"Mar-Jac Poultry is aware of how dangerous the machinery they use can be when safety standards are not in place to prevent serious injury and death. The company's inaction has directly led to this terrible tragedy, which has left so many to mourn this child's preventable death," OSHA Regional Administrator Kurt Petermeyer in Atlanta said in a statement.
- Teen's death in Wisconsin sawmill highlights "21st century problem" across the U.S.
The Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is proposing $212,646 in penalties, an amount set by federal statute, while citing Mar-Jac with 14 serious violations as well other safety lapses.
Based in Gainesville, Georgia, Mar-Jac as been in business since 1954 and operates facilities in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. The poultry producer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The boy's death is particularly egregious given a prior death at the plant involving an employee whose shirt sleeve was caught in a machine and pulled them in, resulting in fatal injuries, Petermeyer noted. "Following the fatal incident in May 2021, Mar-Jac Poultry should have enforced strict safety standards at its facility. Only two years later and nothing has changed."
Guatemalan media identified the teenager as Duvan Pérez and said he moved to Mississippi from Huispache, in Guatemala, as NBC affiliate WDAM reported.
Federal officials in the U.S. also have an open child labor investigation involving the plant.
Under federal child labor laws, anyone younger than 18 is prohibited from working at slaughtering and meatpacking plants, as well as operating or cleaning any power-driven machinery used in such facilities.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 57 children 15 years and younger died from injuries sustained at work between 2018 and 2022; 68 teens ages 16-17 died on the job during the same five-year period.
The teen's death in Mississippi came one month after a fatal accident involving another 16-year-old, who died a few days after getting trapped in a stick stacker machine at a sawmill in Wisconsin. The high school student's death also served to amplify the growing number of children around the U.S. working in hazardous jobs meant for adults.
Kate GibsonKate Gibson is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch in New York.
veryGood! (193)
Related
- Contained, extinguished and mopping up: Here’s what some common wildfire terms mean
- Can states ease homelessness by tapping Medicaid funding? Oregon is betting on it
- What to know about the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment
- More than 90% of people killed by western Afghanistan quake were women and children, UN says
- Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says next year will be his last in office; mum on his plans afterward
- New York officer fatally shoots man in fencing mask who charged police with 2 swords, police say
- Black student suspended over hairstyle will be sent to disciplinary education program
- Bomb threat forces U-turn of Scoot plane traveling from Singapore to Perth, airline says
- Judge weighs the merits of a lawsuit alleging ‘Real Housewives’ creators abused a cast member
- RHOC's Shannon Beador Slammed Rumors About Her Drinking 10 Days Before DUI Arrest
Ranking
- Homes of Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce burglarized, per reports
- Sony announces release of new PlayStation 5 Slim models just in time for the holiday season
- IRS says Microsoft may owe more than $29 billion in back taxes; Microsoft disagrees
- By The Way, Here's That Perfect T-Shirt You've Been Looking For
- 'Cowboy Carter' collaborators to be first country artists to perform at Rolling Loud
- GOP-led House panel: White House employee inspected Biden office where classified papers were found over a year earlier than previously known
- Pentagon’s ‘FrankenSAM’ program cobbles together air defense weapons for Ukraine
- A UN-backed expert will continue scrutinizing human rights in Russia for another year
Recommendation
-
Mega Millions winning numbers for November 8 drawing: Jackpot rises to $361 million
-
Arizona Diamondbacks celebrate NLDS sweep over Los Angeles Dodgers with a pool party
-
Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White star as wrestlers in 'The Iron Claw': Watch trailer now
-
As strikes devastate Gaza, Israel forms unity government to oversee war sparked by Hamas attack
-
Will Trump’s hush money conviction stand? A judge will rule on the president-elect’s immunity claim
-
Cher denies kidnapping allegation by son's estranged wife: 'I'm a mother. This is my job'
-
Don’t mess with this mama bear: Grazer easily wins popular Fat Bear Contest at Alaska national park
-
Celebrity chef Michael Chiarello dead at age 61 after mystery allergic reaction