Today, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) released a new safety video on its investigation into the deadly January 28, 2021, liquid nitrogen release at the Foundation Food Group (FFG) poultry processing plant in Gainesville, Georgia, that killed six people and seriously injured three others. The release occurred when the bubbler tube, which measured and controlled the level of liquid nitrogen in an immersion freezer at the facility, was bent, causing an abnormally large amount of liquid nitrogen to be pumped into the freezer and exceeding the freezer’s capacity. The excess liquid nitrogen overflowed out of the freezer and then vaporized, forming a deadly vapor cloud inside the poorly ventilated freezer room. Two people who were in the room at the time of the release died from asphyxiation, and four additional workers also were asphyxiated and died when they entered the freezer room during the incident.
On January 28, 2026, FFG halted chicken production on the line so that maintenance personnel could work on the freezer. The freezer remained on, however. At some point, the freezer’s bubbler tube was bent above the overflow level, causing the freezer’s nitrogen level control system to believe the freezer was empty. As a result, the system continued to add liquid nitrogen to the freezer, so much that the freezer overflowed. Once the liquid nitrogen was released, it quickly vaporized and filled the freezer room with a white fog-like cloud that persisted for more than an hour. When an FFG employee observed the two maintenance workers lying motionless on the floor of the freezer, an evacuation was initiated. During the evacuation, at least 14 other FFG employees, including members of management, responded to the incident by either investigating the freezer room or attempting to rescue their coworkers. The two maintenance workers were fatally injured by asphyxiation due to the vaporized liquid nitrogen, and four other FFG employees were fatally injured as they attempted to respond to the incident. Three other FFG employees were seriously injured.
As in the CSB’s final report on the incident, the safety video covers five key safety issues that contributed to the incident:
1) single point of failure,
2) atmospheric monitoring and alarm systems,
3) emergency preparedness,
4) process safety management systems, and
5) product stewardship.
In particular, as the video notes, the CSB found that FFG did not have an atmospheric monitoring and alarm system that could have alerted workers to the deadly conditions in the freezer room. FFG also lacked an effective plan for dealing with a hazardous liquid nitrogen release and did not train employees on how to respond safely.