Teen contractor loses leg, co-worker loses fingers at Case Farms
Chicken processor racks up more than $1.4M in OSHA penalties in 2015. They paid very little, though.
CANTON, Ohio — A leading supplier of fast food and
supermarket chicken is facing more than $1.4 million in fines this year
for worker safety and health violations, including several that led a
teenaged worker to suffer the amputation of his lower leg.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health
Administration has levied the latest penalties against Case Farms
Processing Inc. for 16 violations at the chicken processor's Canton
facility. The safety failures resulted in two serious injuries to
workers while they cleaned machines. A 17-year-old worker, employed by
cleaning subcontractor Cal-Clean had his left leg amputated from the knee down and a 24-year-old Case Farms employee lost two fingertips. Both workers were fired after the incidents.
OSHA cited Case Farms for two willful,
10 repeated, and four serious safety violations with proposed
penalties of $424,600 on Sept 24. The agency also penalized Cal-Clean's
owner, Callaghan and Callaghan with $179,700 in fines on Sept. 28, for
two willful, five serious and three other-than-serious safety
violations. Both companies were cited for exposing workers to amputation, fall, electrical and other serious hazards.
In August, OSHA placed Case Farms in the agency's Severe Violator Enforcement Program, after it assessed $861,500 in penalties after investigations at the company's Winesburg, Ohio facility.
"A teenager's life has been forever altered because of a
devastating leg injury just weeks after starting this job. How many
injuries will it take before Case Farms stops exposing workers to
dangerous machinery parts?" said Dr. David Michaels, assistant
secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. "OSHA will
continue to inspect, monitor and penalize this company until it makes
necessary improvements. They need to protect their workers, and they
need to do it now."
The inspections that resulted in the September citations found:
- On March 25, a 24-year-old Case Farms employee was cleaning a
fat sucker machine when the operating parts of a plunger amputated the
fingertips of his right middle and ring fingers. The machine should have
been prevented from operating
during the cleaning process. An employee for nearly a year and a half,
the worker was suspended from his job for 10 days and subsequently
fired.
- On April 7, a 17-year-old Callaghan and Callaghan (doing
business as "Cal-Clean") employee suffered the amputation of his left
leg from the knee down when he was cleaning the liver-giblet chiller
machine. The teen has been unable to return to work due to his
injuries, and he was fired after the incident. Case Farms does not
supervise the sanitation contractor employees working at it its
facilities, but the company is responsible for exposing the Cal-Clean
employee to operating parts of machinery because it failed to install
safety mechanisms. OSHA also cited Cal-Clean for failing to report the
amputation to the agency within 24 hours, as required.
"In the past 25 years, Case Farms has done little to change a
corporate culture where workers are endangered despite repeated OSHA
inspections and commitments from the company to fix its safety and
health programs," said Howard Eberts, OSHA's area director in
Cleveland. "Both Case Farms and Cal-Clean need to make safety a
priority for employees who work at dangerous meat processing
facilities."
Two other inspections remain open at Case Farms' Canton facility.
- In June, OSHA opened an investigation into deficiencies in the ammonia refrigeration
system. Exposure to ammonia can cause serious respiratory illness, and
accidental releases of ammonia from pressurized pipes and vessels may
have catastrophic consequences.
- In July, OSHA opened an investigation into allegations that poultry workers were experiencing symptoms of campylobacter infection, a foodborne illness.
In 2013, Case Farms agreed to address safety violations in a
settlement agreement with OSHA after an inspection found workers exposed
to dangerous machinery
and other hazards at its Winesburg facility. However, follow-up
inspections led to the issuance of citations on May 28, 2015, and most
recently on Aug. 13, 2015. Case Farms has contested all of the
citations issued.
Current citations on Case Farms are available here. View citations issued to Callaghan and Callaghan here.
Headquartered in Troutman, North Carolina, Case Farms processes 2.8
million chickens per week at seven facilities in North Carolina and
Ohio. It has more than 3,200 employees and produces more than 900
million pounds of fresh, partially cooked and frozen-for-export poultry
products yearly. Its Ohio facilities are located in Canton, Strasburg,
Massillon and Winesburg. In North Carolina, Case Farms operates in
Dudley, Goldsboro, Mount Olive and Morganton.
Both companies have 15 business days from receipt of its citations
and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's
area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
To ask questions; obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint;
or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities
or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call
OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the Cleveland Area
Office at 216-447-4194.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970,
employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces
for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for
America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and
providing training, education and assistance. For more information,
visit http://www.osha.gov.
