OSHA cites firms for accident that killed six poultry plant workers
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An Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation into the deaths of six workers at a Georgia poultry processing plant has resulted in citations for 59 violations and proposed fines totaling nearly $1 million for four companies.
On Jan. 28, a malfunctioning freezer at the Gainesville plant released colorless, odorless liquid nitrogen, displacing the oxygen in a room where several workers had just started their shift, according to an OSHA statement released Friday.
Three of the plant’s maintenance workers entered the freezer room without precautions — having never been trained on the deadly effects of nitrogen exposure — and were overcome immediately. Other workers entered the room and were also overcome.
The three maintenance workers and two other workers died immediately; a sixth died on the way to the hospital. At least a dozen injured workers needed hospital care, according to OSHA.
OSHA found several companies liable because they
“failed to implement any of the safety procedures necessary to prevent the nitrogen leak, or to equip workers responding to it with the knowledge and equipment that could have saved their lives,” according to the statement.
The companies cited are: Foundation Food Group Inc. in Gainesville; Messer LLC of Bridgewater, New Jersey; Packers Sanitation Services Inc. Ltd. of Kieler, Wisconsin; and FS Group Inc. of Albertville, Alabama.
The companies face possible combined fines totaling $998,637. Messer, Packers Sanitation Services and FS Group said in statements that they disagreed with OSHA’s findings.
U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said in the statement that the incident was “entirely avoidable.”
