Two different worker injuries at the Koch Foods poultry processing facility in Morton, Mississippi earned the company an OSHA investigation – and nine serious safety violations.
Both incidents occurred in the spring of 2016. In March, a 42-year-old man suffered a laceration to his right finger after his glove got caught in a conveyor. In April, a 23-year-old gizzard chiller operator had two fingers on her right hand broken. The woman was attempting to unjam the gizzards inside the chiller when her hand contacted a rotating shaft.
OSHA’s investigation was part of the agency's Regional Emphasis Program for Poultry Processing Facilities.
The company was cited for failing 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.
- Protect workers from electric shock due to corrosive chemicals leaking on outlets.
Proposed penalties: $88,632.
Headquartered in Park Ridge, Illinois, Koch Foods of Mississippi is a subsidiary of Koch Foods Inc., a leading poultry processor with facilities in Alabama, Georgia, Ohio and Tennessee.
