A Mississippi poultry processing plant is facing substantial fines from the US Department of Labor after a 16-year-old contract employee, Duvan Tomas Pérez, was killed in a chicken deboning machine. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) attributed the tragedy to Mar-Jac Poultry’s ineffective safety policies, citing 17 violations and proposing fines totaling $212,646.
Pérez, an immigrant from Guatemala, was employed through a contract staffing agency and tragically lost his life while cleaning the deboning machine. OSHA’s investigation revealed that the plant lacked safety measures, such as a device to prevent the machine from starting during cleaning—a violation of regulations, especially when minors are involved.
This incident follows a previous fatality at the same facility in 2021, prompting OSHA Regional Administrator Kurt Petermeyer to express disappointment in the company’s failure to enforce stricter safety standards.
Mar-Jac Poultry has 15 days to either comply with the proposed fines or contest the findings. This tragic event underscores the critical need for workplace safety, particularly in industries involving hazardous machinery.
