Egg processor cited after worker’s death

U.S. workplace safety regulators have cited and proposed $188,464 in fines against a Nebraska egg processing facility after an employee was fatally injured on the job.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration said the employee of Michael Foods Inc.’s Wakefield, Nebraska, facility was struck by a dock leveler, a device used to allow a forklift to travel between a loading dock and a trailer, according to an agency statement on Friday. One of the employer’s dock levelers was undergoing maintenance, and OSHA investigators determined that the employer failed to properly brace the dock leveler during the maintenance procedures, causing it to fall onto an employee who was assisting in the maintenance.

OSHA cited Michael Foods for exposing employees to hazards associated with failing to properly brace equipment during servicing and maintaining, failing to develop written and effective training and procedures for lockout/tagout and failing to conduct periodic reviews of the company’s lockout/tagout safety procedures. The agency also found violations relating to electrical and arc flash hazards, according to the statement.

A company spokeswoman declined to comment.