Mar-Jac Poultry reaches settlement with OSHA following death of teenage Guatemalan immigrant

A poultry processing plant in Hattiesburg has reached a settlement with the government following the death of a 16-year-old immigrant from Guatemala.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said that in response to Duvan Perez's death, Mar-Jac Poultry agreed to pay a $164,814 fine and implement enhanced safety measures to protect its employees from known machinery hazards.

Perez was reportedly pulled into a machine during a thorough cleaning of the factory's deboning area in July 2023. While disinfecting the machine while it was still energized, the teenager became caught in the rotating shaft and sprockets and was pulled in, suffering fatal injuries.

“Tragically, a teenager died unnecessarily before Mar-Jac Poultry took the necessary steps to protect its employees,” said Kurt Petermeyer, OSHA's Atlanta regional director. “This settlement requires the company to commit to a safer work environment and take concrete steps to protect its employees from known hazards. Increased monitoring and training can go a long way toward minimizing the risks to employees in meat processing plants.”

Perez's family sued Mar-Jac and Onin Staffing earlier this year. The suit claimed the poultry company failed to enforce safety regulations, which ultimately led to the teen's death. It also accused the staffing agency of illegally employing the 16-year-old at the plant. Federal law prohibits anyone under the age of 18 from working in a meat processing plant.

The agreement follows an OSHA investigation into Mar-Jac Poultry's failure to comply with required safety procedures. As part of the agreement, Mar-Jac has agreed to comply with the following improvements issued by federal agencies:

• Assign another appropriately trained supervisor to the cleaning shift.
• Provide up-to-date training to employees exposed to lockout/tagout and machine guarding hazards.
• Require the facility manager and safety representative to complete OSHA's 30-hour general industry training and require facility managers to complete OSHA's 10-hour training.
• Establish a system for assigning, identifying and issuing locks to authorized personnel performing lockout/tagout functions and update programs and training to meet this requirement.
• Conduct a risk and hazard assessment to evaluate the safety risks and hazards associated with the current lockout/tagout procedures for the cleaning shift. The assessment must include a review of all incidents, including near misses, injuries, and unexpected starts or malfunctions of machinery.
• Conduct monthly lockout/tagout safety audits for the cleaning shift for one year and provide evidence to OSHA, including steps the employer is taking to reduce hazards in response to the audits.

Mar-Jac has been raising live birds for poultry production for food industry customers in the United States and abroad since 1954 at facilities in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi.