OSHA Cites Koch Foods of Mississippi After Severe Worker Injuries
Workers faced fall, unguarded machinery, and electric shock hazards, according to the agency. Proposed penalties total $88,632.
OSHA has cited Koch Foods of Mississippi LLC for nine serious safety violations at a Morton, Miss., site. The agency learned two workers suffered injuries at the poultry processing plant in the spring of 2016. The investigation was also part of the agency's Regional Emphasis Program for Poultry Processing Facilities.
Citations were issued for the employer's alleged failure to ensure proper procedures were followed to prevent machinery from starting-up during maintenance or servicing, protect employees from falls up to 18 feet, provide machine guarding on equipment, provide standard railings on stairways, and protect workers from electric shock.
One employee suffered a laceration to his right finger after his glove got caught in a conveyor in March, and a second employee had two fingers broken on her right hand after attempting to unjam the gizzards inside a chiller when her hand contacted a rotating shaft.
"Koch Foods must review its safety procedures to ensure workers are protected from all safety and health hazards to include machinery unexpectedly starting up, falls and electric shock," said Eugene Stewart, OSHA's area director in the Jackson Office. "It is the employer's responsibility to protect employees in the workplace."
Proposed penalties total $88,632.